


Flying the Coop

by Bluest_Yeehaw42



Series: Hemo Invicta [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Bad Jokes, Catra (She-Ra) Redemption, Enemies to Friends, Fluff, Glimmer (She-Ra) Swears, Gratuitous Swearing, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbians in Space, Major Character Injury, Major Original Character(s), Medical Jargon, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Owls, POV Third Person, Post-Season 4, References to Canon, Romantic Tension, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Slavery, Slow Burn, Too Much Research Into Anatomy of Owls and Cats, Torture, Trying to Be In-Character, bi panic, jailbreak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 15:47:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 88,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21914308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluest_Yeehaw42/pseuds/Bluest_Yeehaw42
Summary: Following their Capture by Horde Prime, Catra and Glimmer find themselves stuck relying on eachother to try and break out of Horde Prime's Command Citadel. Sharing the diplomatic guest quarters, they find themselves teamed up with an ally from another planet, looking to take some revenge.  But just how much is there to their new feathered friend?(Takes Place in an Canon Divergence-AU Post-S4)
Relationships: Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Hemo Invicta [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706347
Comments: 115
Kudos: 177





	1. Keeping Up Appearances

Head full of thoughts, eyes vacant, Glimmer trudged through the halls of Horde Prime’s Command Center, followed at her flanks by Clone Guards and her reluctant feline-like companion, Catra.

“Cheer up Sparkles, Horde Prime is just sooooo kind as to give us a fancy room to hole up in before he wants to figure out all he wants to know about your ties to that little secret weapon in Etheria, which by the way, nice plays Queenie.”

Catra exposited loudly, trying to make sure the guards around the two of them heard her sucking up.

Glimmer didn’t respond, continuing to move ahead with the heels of her boots clicking against the metallic floor.

‘Why couldn’t I teleport out of here when I tried earlier? The Horde back on Etheria had tech that prevented me from teleporting before, maybe they have some kind of ship-wide dampener?....Gods how could I be so stupid as to wind up in this situation………’ She shook her head as Catra continued to chatter.

“It really is just so gracious of Horde Prime to give us some time to rest after all that fighting and mess back on Etheria…I could really go for a nice cat-nap before we go into negotiations later, right Sparkles?” Catra gave a toothy grin and clapped her hand on Glimmer’s back which seemed to snap her out of her stupor.

She grimaced and chose not to make a scene just yet until they got to their room. Hopefully they’d have some level of privacy.

The Guards stopped their march and held their staffs out infront of the Etherian pair to prevent their advance. They had stopped at what seemed like a dead end in a hallway before a series of three complex metal doors opened into a seemingly massive room. The light from inside blinded the pair’s vision so they couldn’t quite catch a proper glimpse.

The Guards lowered their staffs to allow them entrance into the room and spoke.

“This is the room you shall be staying in, Queen Glimmer and Force Captain Catra.”

“Pretty sure I deserve a promotion by now…” Catra muttered as she stepped out of the glare from the light of the ceiling, her eyes glittering and widening with joy as a cat’s does.

“W O A H” Catra exclaimed, rushing forward like a child in a candy store.

The “room” resembled a large apartment, glittering with electronics and all the amenities one could hope for. The entrance into a dining room with a glass table fit for 6, a cozy kitchen, and a living area with an l-shaped couch and holographic viewing station. The ceiling was a massive screen, projecting all the stars from outside the ship.

“Horde Prime really knows how to treat a guest! I’m going to check out the rest of the place, coming Sparkles?” Catra smirked and cocked her head.

Glimmer glared in Catra’s direction, but reluctantly stepped into the room with Catra. Not nearly as amused considering she was still in shock over the circumstances she found herself in.

Still, she had to admit this seemed nicer than what she expected based on previous Horde accommodations she had witnessed.

‘prefer the holding cells in Brightmoon’, she jested with herself. Trying to maintain onto some of her wits despite all the recent hardships. Still, she felt was only barely hanging on at this point. Last thing she wanted to do was start crying infront of Catra of all people.

“I hope these accommodations are satisfactory. Your new Attendant will be with you shortly.” One of the Horde Guards said, Glimmer wasn’t sure which as they both seemed to be as identical as clones could be. She hadn’t been looking in their direction, but the guards were already on their way out and the thick door of the suite finally sealed shut with a metallic thunk.

Now, Glimmer felt truly alone.

Well, only for a few moments before a very quick patter of cat feet rushed back to Glimmer. Catra poking her head back out of the hallway she had dashed down and looking around, seeming to mouth words to Glimmer.

Glimmer blinked as Catra’s mouth moved infront of her, trying to grasp what words Catra was trying to say. The cat woman’s lips seemed to move in nonsense, but the exasperated feline let out a sigh of displeasure before slinking over to Glimmer and grabbing her shoulder. Leaning down to the shorter woman to whisper.

“I was asking, ‘are they gone?’ but I guess that’s pretty apparent they aren’t here still!” Catra half-whisper screamed at this point.

Glimmer just shook her head, tired and wanting to just get away from all this, instinctively trying to teleport away but just feeling the same fizzle that had happened before when she had tried to get away.

“We really fucked up didn’t we?”

“WE?” Glimmer whispered back to Catra in malice.

“YES WE. Hordak may have been dumb enough to open a portal to the one fucking psycho who’d wipe his fucking memory right in front of us like he was a disk drive full of porn, and unleash his bigger badder brother on Etheria, But you fucking princesses set off the super weapon that drew their attention. Always you princesses! Ruin everything!” Catra backed away from Glimmer before Glimmer, furious, grabbed Catra by the shoulder and whipped her around.

“We were trying to stop the Horde, which if you remember, threatened the entirety of my world multiple times over, ruined countless lives, and got both my parents killed you stupid BITCH”

Catra would have been taken aback by the usually non-vulgar Glimmer having actually cursed infront of her, but was instead taken aback by the fist of the small monarch colliding into her cheek and sending her onto her back.

With her trademark smirk at Glimmer, Catra spit out some blood onto the floor.

“Didn’t think you had it in ya Sparkles, ya nailed me good and even got me to bleed a little. Tore my cheek open with my own teeth. But how’sabout you stop fighting the only backup you got around here huh? I saved your life back there!”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh you’re excused alright! Don’t even start thinking we’re suddenly friends now.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

“Well, I only said that shit to Horde Prime, cause if you die, I am alone and screwed here. You’re my leverage here to survive, and if it wasn’t for me Horde Prime would have killed you right then and there or reprogrammed you or WHATEVER.”

“If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this situation to beg-“ Catra’s ear twitched and she quickly held up a hand to stop Glimmer, who had also seemingly heard something.

The faintest tapping on metal from the other side of the doors.

Catra looked to Glimmer and nodded. The both of them realizing they still had to keep up appearances for Horde Prime or any of his followers.

“Act casual!” Catra hissed at Glimmer. But the both locked eyes in a similarly pleading sense of realization that neither of them knew how to act casual around eachother.

After each of the three intricate doors opened, a figure stepped into the room whom seemed to be peculiarly at odds with the Etherian Duo’s expectations.

He seemed to be avian by nature, standing well taller than Catra and Glimmer at about 6 foot 5. He resembled a massive great horned owl, a thin black bleak curving down the front of his face. He seemed to be noticeably skinnier than his physiological reminiscer’s would imply.

His eyes were a brilliantly royal shade of purple, with a triangular coloring of lavender that seemed to hug the crest of his head. A similar lilac shading wrapped around his mauve eyes gave their piercing nature an extra degree of flair. His simultaneously robust yet thin frame was an earthy brown, leading to his extremities which turned a darker shade.

Unlike some Etherian variant of a similar species, he seemed to have his wings and arms be separate, as his wings were not immediately visible. He wore a work uniform of some kind, a gray tunic which seemed to give no room for the wings that were closed against his back.

But the most telling thing about this individual wasn’t the clothes they wore, but the unique item he wore around his neck. A curious metal collar, which seemed to have gone through hell and back, covered in lights with a small speaker on the front of it seemed to come to life as the owl made one low bow before the two.

“I am Tactus, last noble of the once great Aviarian Kingdom, and by Horde Prime’s will I am at your service as your humble assistant” came a slightly metallic voice. Not from the mouth of the bird, but from the collar which seemed to dig into his neck and throat.

As he came up from his bow he finally gotten a chance to see the sight that was before him.

There was the Queen of Brightmoon with the Force Captain, seemingly engaged in the well-known children’s game of Patty-cake. The two having had no better idea of how to act casual then this as the clapping of their palms came together in the awkward silence of the room.

Tactus, whom had not expected to see this today, calmly spoke up.

“I must apologize, but…am I interrupting something?” He asked, his head crest raising like a brow in confusion at the circumstances he found himself in.

Glimmer proceeded to speak up

“Nothing! Just two Etherians enjoying a fun game amongst eachother! Nothing wrong or out of place at all!” She said with a fake grin, a bead of sweat running down her forehead. Catra nodding in agreement.

“YEP! Just two dumb Etherians with no worries or plans whatsoever just doing dumb Etherian games!” Catra gave her equally fake smile before clearing her throat.

“You have a reason to bother us, bird?”

Tactus stood up, straight as an arrow, looking between the two of them momentarily. Glimmer had stopped the patty cake distraction and was now looking at  
Tactus with her full attention. The collar around Tactus’ neck grabbing Glimmer’s attention most prominently.

‘Last noble of Aviaria? Never heard of the place, but for this to be the last of his line and for Horde Prime to have him collared like a dog?’ Glimmer thought, rubbing her own neck sympathetically.

The collar around his neck lighting up once again as he spoke through it.

“Well, I am here to do anything that you two demand or may require. As Horde Prime has commanded.” Tactus says with another bow. Standing straight back up.

“I, am at your service.”

Catra’s eyes seem to glitter at those words. Looking at Glimmer with an evil sort of grin before looking back to Tactus.

“Anything?” Glimmer and Tactus both seemed to be taken aback by her question a bit.

“Catra………”

“Oh, I can think of a few things….”


	2. A Gilded Cage

“So, Anything right?” Catra restated, crossing her arms and raising a brow.

“Catra……” Glimmer spoke up again, she wasn’t looking to take advantage of the person they had just met, nor was she sure what Catra was getting to exactly. But she knew she certainly wasn’t liking the implications.

Tactus paused, carefully selecting his next few words as if he were walking through a verbal minefield.

“I misspoke.” His collar bleated out.

“What I mean to say is, that I was ordained with the responsibility of ensuring that you two are kept happy and healthy for the duration of your stay with Horde Prime. I am not allowed to do anything that would jeopardize your health and happiness. Such as say, doing anything that is directly counter to Horde Prime’s will.” He states matter of factly, his vision shifting to the two of them briefly.

But as he looked between the two of them, Glimmer noticed he seemed to lock eyes with her specifically, the slightest eyelid twitch seeming to be directed at her. Glimmer stared back incredulously. His face seemed stoic and hard to read, and Glimmer hadn’t fully gotten accustomed to him yet.

  
He seemed different from similar species she had met in Etheria, and his body language was more muted. But she was sure that the eye-twitch he had given her was almost like a wink. Not in the way that she felt like he was coming onto her, but in the way a child winks at a friend to let them know they have a secret or are bluffing infront of an adult.

Glimmer’s eyes jump back to the collar around his neck. Looking at the intricacy of technology and metal and how close it seemed to cling to him, and it clicked. Glimmer tried to suppress her reaction so she wouldn't give away what she had learned to Tactus. Not just yet, it might be too dangerous for him to know that she knows. Theories and ideas racing through her head.

‘He’s just like us. He can’t say what he wants to because he’s being monitored as well. But his monitor seems to be attached to him. Reading him? It’s able to allow him to speak without the need for him to actually vocalize, so perhaps he can't otherwise? But if it’s translating what he’s saying without him even physically speaking that must mean it’s connected closer than just a simple translator……it’s not IN him is it? It doesn’t look like it is…’

Catra however, was focused on continuing the conversation.

“Yuh-huh, but will you clean THIS up?” She says while casually knocking a drinking glass off the table that they had been sitting at. The glass shattering the moment it hit the floor snapping Glimmer back to the situation.

“CATRA” Glimmer screamed, the poor bird taking barely a second to register what had happened before he immediately began to pick up each shard of glass in his careful talons.

“WHAT? I wanted to see if he’d do it!...and he jumped on it fast! Gotta give Horde Prime that, he knows how to pick’em.”

Catra snarkily remarked.

“Why are you like this?” Glimmer spoke in exasperation, about to kneel down to assist Tactus but he lifted up one of his hands to motion her to stop.

“I cannot allow you to assist me as it runs counter to my orders. I cannot willingly allow you to take an action that may lead to harming yourself.” He noted plainly, but Glimmer is insistent and presses.

“But I want to help”

“And I cannot allow it.”

Catra groaned from the annoyance of just watching the transaction.

“Glimmer, just let him do it. He seems to like it.”

Tactus stopped while picking up the shards, having noticed the red splotch of blood on the floor from when Catra had spat it out. Glimmer noticing his gaze at the splotch of blood on the floor.

‘Oh no.’

Promptly, Tactus scooped up the rest of the shards and stood straight up. Eyeing Catra and bobbing his head up and down as he circled around her. Catra, noting his behavior responding thusly.

“What in the fresh fuck are you doing.”

“Examining you, you appear to be injured all over your body. It was difficult to notice at first but you seem to be suffering from some skin abrasions and a gash inside your mouth, there’s a touch of blood still clinging to your teeth.”

“……creepy, you could just ask weirdo. But I meant the bobbing. Is that really necessary?”

“Helps my depth perception.” Tactus shrugged. Bending back down and casually scraping off the dried blood with his claw. Catra winced, having just barely heard the sound of the talon grinding against the metal floor which gave her an uncomfortable feeling in her teeth.

‘So that’s how that feels.’

Glimmer, curious at Tactus bobbing found herself making similar head motions to see if it would improve her vision. Squinting her eyes as she did. Finding such a technique had minimal if any benefit to her sight, she concluded that at that moment she looked absolutely ridiculous. And She was right.

Still, she could see what Tactus was saying. She had never known or saw Catra at the best of times. As the two always found eachother on opposing sides of each conflict, caring or even noticing the haggard and injuries of Catra wasn’t something her eye had quite picked up on so well. Glimmer had completely written off her injuries as nothing serious, despite her better nature. Obviously, she knew Catra had taken a beating, but it still hadn’t fully processed in her head that she had to look out for Catra’s well-being. She didn’t want to admit it, but the satisfaction of seeing her in such a state made her feel sick to her stomach. She figured it must have been at least somewhat natural to feel this way, but she didn’t like those feelings.

“I am quite adept with medical care if you’d allow me to treat you.” Tactus reached out to her arm to see the wound more clearly. But, Catra recoiled from his grasp and with a hiss, making her stance to receiving aid clear.

“Back. Off. I don’t need any of your treatment. I’ll heal on my own just fine.”

Glimmer, finding the need to try and mediate, stepped in.

“Hold on, Tactus how exactly do you plan on treating wounds? These just seem to be minor scrapes, surely she can just recover on her own?”

The question gave Tactus yet more pause, as the topic seemed to be yet again something he’d need to speak carefully about. The subject being difficult for him to discuss for a variety of reasons, none of which he wanted to, or was physically capable of getting into at this moment.

“My people have…had…extensive experience with potion making. In a…prolonged conflict with a…nonspecific group…I treated wounds for the rebels in the field…” Tactus paused after speaking, as if he was waiting for something to happen but breathed the most relieved hoot the two had likely ever heard. One of the first sounds he made that actually came from his own vocal chords and not the collar.

“Look Birdbrain,” Catra immediately spoke up.

“I think that this is a little different from sword slashes or cannon fire wounds. It’s just a bunch of scrapes and scratches. I’m fiiine.” Catra asserted, licking her wounds.

“Catra………” Glimmer chided. “I’m sure Tactus realizes that, but if he’s so good at potion-making I’m sure he can heal you quicker.”

“Precisely.” Tactus added.

“Isn’t feeling better faster just……better?”

Catra rolled her eyes.

“Well we know you aren’t the Queen of Speeches.” Catra paused, thinking it over for a moment before finally conceding.

“Fiiiiiiine. This is starting to sting anyways…but if those potions taste funny or even have a hint of a bitter poisony or mindcrontrolly taste, I will snap one of your wings. Both of them if I taste even a hint of peppermint!”

Tactus winced at her threat but nodded.

“As you command.” He dryly affirmed. Turning around and walking out the series of doors. The loud steel doors coming down hard behind him.

“Why peppermint?” Glimmer questioned

“I just really hate the taste. Makes me sick.”

There was a pregnant pause as the two of them stood there in the now empty room again. Both Glimmer and Catra looking at eachother for an uncomfortable few seconds before Catra spoke up.

“You wanna say it, or should I?”

“No, go ahead.”

“That guy is what you’ll be if we stay here too long or lose against Horde Prime.”

Glimmer grimaced but nodded in agreement.

“Yep……”

“And Horde Prime placed him here specifically to make you feel uncomfortable and be complacent with whatever he asks, as some fucked up psychological torture kinda thing, didn’t he?”

“Ya think?” Glimmer responded, clearly vexed.

“Honestly, he’s creeping me out.”

“Well I wouldn’t…I……kinda yeah.”

“Like, I can tell that he’s mostly harmless, at least right now. But if Horde Prime were to suddenly order him to attack us, he seems like he’s been domesticated  
enough to do it.”

“Ew. Do not refer to this as domestication. This is just awful…” Glimmer cringed at the wording. Putting a hand up to her mouth in discomfort.

“Well what else should I call it? The bird is clipped and collared, and I do not want Prime to end up having to sic his attack pigeon on us. You ever see how an Owl eats or hunts its prey? Cause let me tell you, the last thing I want is to have that six-foot-and-a-half freak snapping my neck like a toothpick with his crazy owl strength and stripping my skin off to make into fucking jerky.”

“Stop……just stop.” Glimmer quavered.

“What? Do you want to think about that?”

“No. Obviously not. But……he gave me this look earlier. I don’t know if you caught it. But I think he’s doing the same thing we’re doing. Playing the bluff. You  
noticed how he wasn’t speaking to easy earlier right?”

“Yeah. Cause whether he likes it or not he’s probably a walking microphone linked straight to Horde Prime. I don’t give a fuck what he is, but I know we can’t trust him.”

  
“How do you know?”

“I know we can’t AFFORD to trust him. We don’t know how deep he is in the indoctrination from Prime. I’ve seen plenty of Horde soldiers who were the same way towards Hordak. They outright worshipped Hordak, and they didn’t even need a collar. So why should we expect this guy to be any different?”

“Hordak’s soldiers didn’t need a collar because you all were raised from infancy or childhood. If they put the collar on him then maybe the reason is because he has a chance of fighting back?”

Catra groaned and held up three fingers, counting off her reasoning as she spoke.

“Or cause Prime is a paranoid control freak, the bird can’t speak without the collar, and because it gets Prime hard cause he’s a fucking weirdo.”

“You can’t just write the guy off like that! You may not technically be a ‘good guy’ but I am. I can’t just leave the guy behind if I can save him and bring him with.”

“Uh-Huh, just like Entrapta?” Catra quipped with a smug grin.

With barely contained rage. Glimmer swallowed hard and cleared her throat before she spoke.

“If he can’t be saved than there isn’t anything I can do, but I’m not writing him off just yet. I’m going to find out what I can about him and maybe, just maybe, we can get a decent ally.”

Catra shook her head in disgust.

“God, you princesses………” She began, leaning over Glimmer. Baring her sharp teeth and placing the tip of her claw right on Glimmer’s chest. In a low growl she spoke.

“You keep your mouth shut. If you blabber on about what we plan on doing or inform him about our plans we are DONE. If he finds out or overhears what we’re  
planning, we are done. We might as well slap on one of those fucking collars ourselves, the only reason why Prime hasn’t got us wearing them too is because we’re keeping up appearances that we’re on his side!”

“Do you think I’m stupid? I-“

“YES. I’ve seem what you princesses’ value. Your weirdo desire to help everyone and do good keeps holding you back. If you just let go of all the things holding you back do you know how powerful you could be?! You could have taken over Etheria on your own. If you had raised a proper army, you could have won forever ago.”

“Holding onto those things is what made us strong. When people realize they can depend on you they gain the will to do more than any of your horde soldiers ever could!”

“……Oh, shut the fuck up.” Catra muttered in quiet ire, pinching the bridge of her nose. She had had enough of this conversation at this point.  
Whenever she had heard any of the princesses’ weird heroic speeches in battle on friendship or love or whatever, she typically either blanked it out or was overcome by the need to gag.

On one occasion, she remembered gagging so hard she ended up coughing a hairball onto the flower princess, whose name she suddenly couldn’t remember. Her memory of that princess screaming in disgust and beginning to cry made the feline chuckle internally.

“And another thing…!” Glimmer persisted, snapping Catra out of her brief lapse of attention.

‘Oh right, we’re still talking’ she thought. Narrowing her eyes at the glittery queen.

“I do not take orders from you. I take suggestions, and though your suggestion has been noted I am going to have to disregard it. I’ve already had experience  
converting people from the Horde’s control, thank you very much.” Glimmer proudly states, giving her own smug grin to Catra, who shot back a look of loathing. Furious at Glimmer for having brought Adora into this.

“You little fucking cu-“ Catra’s ear twitched again as she heard the doors begin to open yet again.

“Of course…” Catra’s face drains of fury as the doors move. Glimmer plopping back down in her chair at the table. Crossing her legs as she waited for Tactus to make his way through those doors.

Sure enough, the familiar clicking of his owl claws on the floor is heard. He stands bolt upright carrying in a bundle of folded fuzzy robes. Ontop of the stack sat a few filled colorful potion vials and two small rectangular boxes.

“Queen Glimmer and Force Captain Catra, it is I, Tactus. I have returned with your potions, as well as some toiletries and other personal care products.”

“Oh, Thank you Tactus.” Glimmer says, grabbing both small boxes and the potions from him. Setting them down on the table.

“Hey Ticcy-Tacts, what’s with the robes?” Catra speaks up, looks at them incredulously.

“For comfort, of course. Horde Prime would hate for our guests to feel uncomfortable in the same clothes day in and day out. We can provide you with proper clothes tomorrow morning, but for now I’m sure these robes will be suitable for nightwear.”

“And the boxes?”

“Toothbrushes, toothpaste. The bathrooms should already be stocked with soap and any other products you may need, but if you find anything missing, bath  
oils, conditioner, we can provide from Prime’s personal supplies.”

Tactus says with a curt nod. Catra snickered briefly at the implication that Horde Prime was the type to appreciate such things enough to require a personal stockpile of beauty supplies. She had seen what he looked like and doubted any of it would be of much use.

Glimmer slid one box over to Catra before looking at the vials. A purple one that seemed to glitter and change hues as it sat in its container, a deep crimson colored vial which almost resembled blood were it not for it containing odd little crystals which sat in the bottom of the vial, and two small vials with a uniform clear liquid with just the slightest tinge of blue.

“Ah, I see you’ve already taken notice of the potions. The Purple one is ‘Culinarian’s Tonic’, provides a fun numbing feeling as it rapidly heals mouth wounds. Typically, from burns and bites while also disinfecting any and all injuries.” He says, taking it and passing it to Catra who looks at the vial carefully.

“Why so specific?” Glimmer queried.

“Specific potions that target specific areas can provide more rapid healing than just chugging any random healing potion. It’s why you can’t just simply hook a tube up to a massive healing flask, constantly drink from it mid-battle, and be invincible.”

Catra uncorked the vial and stared at it in its flask, lightly swirling what was inside. Smelling it.

“Smells like…a fruit? I can’t tell what kind. Sweet, but not candy sweet. Flower sweet. Oh, that’s weird. I’ve never actually drunk a potion before. I just drink it, right?”

“Consumption is fine, just make sure to swish first. Particularly on the wound in your mouth. You’ll feel a pleasantly numb sort of tingle or chill and it might rush all the way down after swallowing. That’s normal so don’t freak out.”

Catra took a deep breath before swigging the vial back, seeming to be uncomfortable as it hit her tongue. Quick swishing it around before swallowing quick.

Glimmer snickering at her reaction.

“GROSS, that was…weird and nasty. It’s like I just licked a stick of deodorant or some numbing gel…but the taste is thankfully already gone.”

“How’s your cheek?” Glimmer asked, Catra pausing and licking the inside of her mouth. Feeling a spot that was once sore with an uncomfortably annoying bit of loose dead skin was now totally smooth.

“Holy shit it’s totally fine.”

Though his face seemed to be consistently neutral, a smile could almost be discerned from Tactus’ beak.

“You should also have some slight regenerative properties in your mouth for the next few minutes. If you happen to feel the need to test it.” He gloated. He was  
quite proud of his potion capabilities and so rarely got the chance to show them off to someone new to potion making. Still, he wondered if potions were nearly as prevalent on Etheria as they were back on his home.

Catra, feeling the need to test his assertion, stuck a claw into her mouth. Prodding at her gums just enough to make them bleed. Pulling her claw out and  
checking the site of her mark yet again with a finger. Finding that the little gash she had made had disappeared even faster than she had made it.

“Is it gone?” Glimmer asked, curious too only for Catra to nod.

“This bird guy knows his shit. Holy fuck.”

Glimmer turned to Tactus in surprise. She had seen healing magic this well before when Adora/She-Ra had used her abilities to heal, but potion craft, was still a rare talent in Etheria.

“You’ve got some skill there.”

Tactus seemed to glow with pride at her compliment.

“Thank you…” He responds, seeming to bask in the praise for a moment before Catra snapped her fingers a couple times.

“Yo, Ticcy-Tacts, what are the other potions? Now I’m interested in this rapid healing because my muscles are aching, and my scratches still sting.”

“Yes…right. Next healing potion, we have ‘Warrior’s Rest’. Used post-battle, made to heal minor wounds, relieve soreness, and overall stress relief.” Tactus says, picking out the crimson vial.

Catra snatches it out of Tactus’ hands. But before her finger’s can reach to uncork it, Tactus places a talon on top of said cork.

“Easy. This isn’t a drinking potion, it’s for a bath. You add it to a bathtub’s water, and it turns the entire thing into one massive healing tonic.”

“Ugggghhhh, isn’t that kind of overkill?”

“You will appreciate it after you try it. Believe me. I have known many fighters to seek this stuff out for daily use, even without injuries. Plus, it makes you smell like roses, so that’s always nice.”

“I’ve never even taken a bath before!” Catra exclaims. Glimmer raising a brow.

“Really? I couldn’t tell.”

“Well I’ve taken catbaths and showers! The Horde never had a bathtub for us to just use.”

Tactus speaks up.  
“Your room is outfitted with a bathtub. Should be attached to each of the bedrooms. And may I add, I would not recommend using this for a catbath. The fluid is, as you can see…”

Tactus says, taking the vial and lightly swaying it to show the slow movements of the potion. Slow as molasses.

“Remarkably thick, and despite its sweet smell I assure you it was not meant to be tasted.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that. Besides, you might like a bath Catra.” Glimmer appealed.

“Fiiiiiiiine. But……wait.” Catra took a moment for a beat to pass before she spoke.

“We still haven’t fully seen the rest of the room.”

The penny had dropped for Glimmer as well.

“Oh my, you’re right. We’ve just been sitting here in the entrance room and……chatting this entire time.”

Tactus made a soft squawk of alarm when he had heard this. His collar lighting up for him to speak in a tone of surprise.

“OH. I have made a mistake then! I had wrongly assumed you had spent your time so far examining the layout of your room. But allow me to show you around then!” He states, placing the vial back into its position on the table besides the two, still unnamed clear blue vials.

“Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, you are currently in the dining area. We have the living area just over here with the couches and tables for casual discussion.”

Tactus walks onwards to the hallway that lead further into their living quarters.

“And if you’d follow me…” He motioned. Glimmer quickly standing up and Catra reluctantly getting up to follow him.

“Down this hall we have your two rooms.” He says, opening the room on the left side of the hallway. Entering into one of the two bedrooms.

The interior was simple, metallic aesthetics none-too dissimilar to Hordak’s designs. The primary difference was the extra care taken into comfort and a faux  
regality that accompanied them. A king-sized bed that seemed to have been untouched for years. White sheets with a big green Horde logo adorning it.

“Cozy.” Glimmer remarked disingenuously, uncomfortable with sleeping in a bed with such a logo on it. A little voice in the back of her head reminding her how awful that would look, Queen of Brightmoon sleeping in a bed with a large horde logo on it. She’d never be able to live it down.

Next to the bed sat a bedside table, ontop sat a picture of Horde Prime ontop his throne.

As if on the same wavelength, both Catra and Glimmer immediately had the same thought upon seeing it. In simultaneously personal silence their brains both said

‘Are you fucking kidding me’

Parallel to the bed and against the opposite wall sat a desk, from which they could write upon or read at. A small Horde crafted tablet computer sat on it. Presumably for them to burn free time and write their thoughts or draw, maybe read any of the books that Horde Prime had no doubt picked to praise himself. Clearly, those digital resources would also be monitored.

“This is what one of the bedrooms looks like as you can see, we have the same starry skyline roof simulation, and we have space for any business appointments as well as general comfort. Oh yes! And storage hidden under the beds.” Tactus says, reaching to pull out a drawer which, as he had stated, came out from underneath the beds.

“And as you can see the door opposite the entrance leads into the personal bathroom.”

He moves ahead, leading the two on and through.

The bathroom was primarily ivory and crystalline in model.

“What’s with the tiny floor sink?” Catra questioned, forcing Glimmer to hold back a laugh.

“That would be a bidet.” Tactus responded as earnestly as he could. He knew he was dealing with one of Hordak’s soldiers, so he hadn’t expected them to have  
received the most proper care, but this was a bit concerning to him.

“Ok. A bidet. Yes. What’s it do though?”

“For washing your hindquarters after you’re finished with your business.”

“That sounds like a horrible idea.”

“I assure you it’s much better than you’d expect. Also, as you see we have a bathtub shower combination for you to use your potions. With multiple shower oils and such in the wall cabinets and-“

“What’s with the three dials?”

“The two on the sides controls the temperature water output, and the middle one switches from shower use to tub use.”

“Water temperature?”

“…yes. We have hot water here.” Tactus clarified.

Catra’s eyes lit up at those words. Glimmer couldn’t help but grin at her reaction. As much as she hated Catra, seeing someone seem so overjoyed at having access to such a seemingly basic thing made her happy.

“Everyone out. Dibs on this one.” Catra exclaims, defensively hopping into the tub and gripping the sides in an almost territorial stance.

Glimmer, shook her head in a beguiled state and walked back to the living room.

Tactus bent down to be at eye level with Catra who was sitting in the tub.

“Shall I bring you your healing potion?”

“Yes, and make it snappy.” Catra responds, reclining back and propping her legs up on the sidewall of the tub. Snapping her fingers for emphasis.

Tactus hooted in mild amusement at her sudden mood shift. Leaving her to the bath as she so desired.

In the living room, Glimmer was examining the potions yet again.

“So, what are these almost clear ones for?” She asked as she heard Tactus walk back over.

“Those are ‘Moon’s Gaze’ potions. I acquired one for each of you. They’re sleep-aids.”

“Sleep-aids?”

“Yes, figured sleeping in a new environment such as this might be stressful on either of you. Puts you straight into REM sleep for the night. You’ll wake up feeling the most refreshed you’ve probably ever felt. Doesn’t have any effect on potential nightmares though.” Tactus remarks, grabbing the Warrior’s Rest potion.

He began to walk down the hallway before Glimmer stopped him.

“Wait, how do you know?”

He halted his walking and turned his head back to her without fully turning his body, as owls tend to do.

“Know what?”

“That it doesn’t help nightmares?” Glimmer persisted.

Another beat seems to pass before Tactus speaks, turning away from her gaze.

“I just do.”


	3. Falconry for Beginners and Other Fun Facts

“Force Captain Catra, I have returned with your ‘Warrior’s Rest’.” Tactus calls out while knocking on the door of the bathroom.

“And your robe.” He restates, lifting it up a bit for emphasis as he held it in his free hand. Not that she could see the motion, but the action felt natural enough to him.

“You can come in, I’m decent. Well, decent where it counts.” Catra shouts back, the door opening promptly after. Ever since Glimmer and Tactus had left, she had been studying the bidet with intense curiosity. Sure enough, the curiosity of the cat had caused a slight mess on the floor which she would rather not address. For just moments earlier she had turned it on to see how it worked, as one might do for any object prior to it’s first use. She silently hoped that Tactus wouldn’t notice the displaced water on the floor.

“Your potion, as requested.” Tactus remarks, bowing slightly as he presented it to Catra. She scoffed, taking it from his open hands.

“You can ease up on the theatrics, saves time that way…actually scratch that. Keep it up, I like being made to feel all regal for once.” Catra shrugs, as Tactus continues to stand there, waiting for more orders.

“………You can run along; you’re not going to just sit there and watch me are ya?” Catra asks, uncomfortable at the very large bird in the doorway.

Tactus leaned back up to meet her gaze, he was also uncomfortable being here, but he was obligated to say the following sentence according to Prime’s explicit orders.

“…Only by request.” He dryly stated, clearly not too happy to have to even utter those words. 

Catra stared back at Tactus deadpan, shot him double finger guns and replied

“I’m going to make us both happy then, and say ‘I am perfectly fine here, and please let me shower in peace’.”

Tactus let out an earnest sigh of relief. 

“Thank you Force Commander Catra.” He nods and retreats to the living room.

“Fucking hell…” Catra breathed out, shutting the bathroom door and going off to take the bath she had now begun to look forward to.

“Time for a hot bath just like a prissy princess” She says to herself. Half-mockingly and half-legitimate interest in the activity. There had to be some benefit to taking a hot bath, right?

Readying herself, Catra was alone to her thoughts.

* * *

“Excuse me, Tactus?” Glimmer called to Tactus from the couch. She had just spotted him as he was coming back from Catra’s room.

“Yes, Queen Glimmer? Is there something you need?” He asked courteously. Making his way towards her with his stiff manner of walking. Were Glimmer not sure of his status as a living being, as evidenced by the necessity for a collar in the first place, she might have thought he was a machine on a track with how he moved and carried himself.

There was still much to the Owl that puzzled Glimmer and concerned her, and she wished to get as much personal questions cleared up as she could.

“I’m fine Tactus, I just…had some questions for you. Well, you don’t have anything else to do right now do you?”

Tactus paused for a moment, considering her words.

“I……no. I have been assigned to you two for the duration of your stay with us or until further notice. What seems to be the issue?”

“I just have some general questions to ask, maybe a few personal ones that have been bugging me. I just wish to know who I am………entrusting to be around me and my companion Catra.” Glimmer clarified.

She knew that giving too much info of herself to Tactus might be a concern, that was what she had gleamed from the argument she had with Catra earlier. But her main goal was to find out about Tactus so she could ascertain if he’d be a good potential ally, or at the very least find out a bit about the facility they were in.

“…I am capable of answering some questions but depending on the information I may not be capable of answering.” Tactus states, thinking for a moment. His eyes suddenly widening as he got an idea. 

“However, I am…capable of providing information on fun facts.”

“Fun…Facts?” Glimmer remarked incredulously at first.

Tactus nodded, his beak having the slightest traces of a smug grin.

“Yes…Fun Facts are important for…any aspiring scholar to know…especially ones that wish to learn more. Any true scholar would know that with any fact you may need to _read inbetween the lines_.” Tactus says, seeming to put as much emphasis on the last four words as his collar would allow. Staring dead at Glimmer until he saw recognition hit her eyes.

‘OH. I GET IT’

The glittery Queen made a silent face of realization, her mouth forming a small o-shape, pointing at Tactus right before she began to speak. Tactus quickly made a slashing movement across his throat before tapping his collar. Nodding quickly to affirm her that he understood what she was saying, then tapping the end of his beak with a talon. As if to tell her ‘you got it’, just as a human would tap their nose in charades.

“Fun facts will be sufficient.” Glimmer smiles, crossing her legs on the couch. Feeling a bit smug at having figured his hint up to this point, she patted the space next to her.

“Would you care to join me on the couch, Tactus?”

“I would be delighted.” He states, choosing to hop over the couch to land casually besides her. Pausing after he did, reminded of the discomfort of his tunic. Just as it had always done, it seemed to dig into his back where his wings were. He stuck a hand to his shoulders to try to rub the area as best he could through the tunic. Glimmer spotted this.

“Tactus, would you prefer to take off your tunic?”

Tactus blinked at her words, it wasn’t the question so much as the politeness of asking what he cared for in this moment. Still, he was forced to respond based on the guidelines set for him lest he incur the punishment.

“My preference towards such a matter is irrelevant. However, I may take it off at request.” Tactus responds, the phrase ‘at request’ still carried a filthy association in his mind, but he still felt at ease with the monarch.

“Then please remove your tunic Tactus. I’m sure your wings would appreciate some fresh air.” Glimmer commands, a bit uncomfortable at the necessity for her having to phrase it in such a way. But she could only imagine the discomfort of having to keep his wings as trapped as they were in such a thing.

She was offhandedly reminded of a pet canary she had as a child. Her mother had scolded her after she had tried to pick it up by its wing once. At age 8, it was the angriest she had ever seen her mother. The lecture had been so stinging she remembered sobbing in her room for hours after before her mother tried to make it up with her favorite ice cream.

“As you command, Queen Glimmer.” Tactus affirms, reaching to the back of his tunic where a knot held it firmly attached to his body. Pulling a loose end of the knot, the tunic lost its tight grip enough for Tactus to pull the string out from its loops.

It was more similar to a corset than it was to a tunic. The tunic coming in twain as Tactus’ feathery form escaped from the confines of his clothing. Standing up from the couch.

“I may need a moment to stretch.”

“Carry on Tactus.” Glimmer coaxed with a small smile. It was satisfying to see him shed his uniform if it was such a burden to him.

Tactus’s wings slowly began to unfold from his back. They were nearly as thin as the clothes he wore from underuse; the feathers were ruffled but still had touches of his familiar colors. Seemingly in feathered rows of brown and lilac, with a touch of graying feathers at the tips of his wings.

He got down on all fours in order to stretch, his wings expanding outwards to an astounding 10 and a half feet in wingspan. Shocking considering how they seemed to be hidden so closely to his frame.

“Oh, my goodness, your wings are…” Glimmer spoke up, she was astounded at their length considering how they were seemingly non-existent under his tunic. Just from the neglect she could tell it had likely been some time since he had been able to stretch out such as this.

Tactus felt the need to finish her sentence with an explanation.

“Undersized, missing an extra 2 feet in length on either side. But, they are my own wings and I’m proud to still have them.” Tactus pushes off the ground with his arms, rising back to his feet.

“I can assume you have more questions, Queen Glimmer.”

Glimmer cleared her throat, her head a swirl of questions and she wasn’t quite sure where to start, so she began with what struck her first.

“Why do they make you wear that if it causes such damage to your wings?”

“‘A Caged Bird does not need to fly, it only requires wings for the beauty of other’s enjoyment.’, the words of Prime himself.” Tactus states plainly. Though his face shows his resentment as he curls his head around to preen his wings with his beak and talons.

“Forgive me, but I must preen them. Feel free to ask more, I do not need my mouth to speak after all.” His collar bleats out, leading perfectly into Glimmer’s next question.

“How does the collar work?”

“The Horde’s research into magic and technology far outpace most other civilizations they encounter. The collar around my neck translates the thoughts I mean to speak into words that you can understand. I am physically incapable of forming the sounds necessary to speak with you normally. The wires are coated in dust from a low-level telepathic crystal the horde found on my homeworld. A happy accident in the Horde’s case.”

Glimmer nodded; she wasn’t entirely sure how that worked but the explanation was good enough. It was one of many things that had been bothering her for awhile.

“Ok, got more questions now but first; how does it determine between your thoughts you mean to speak and the ones you just ordinarily think?”

“Unsure, but thankful regardless. My knowledge on the matter is limited.”

“Ok, fair enough. But, why does potion magic and the magic in those crystals works, yet mine doesn’t?”

Tactus paused from his preening and looked directly at Glimmer.

“Explaining how your magic has been prevented is counter to Prime’s directives. Informing you could bring you future harm. However, I do have a fun fact for you. The magic channeled from individuals, runemaking, crystals and stones, and potion craft or alchemy run on different wavelengths. Therefore, despite being very similar they can be affected by different factors that can entirely exclude other factors.” Tactus exposits.

‘Ok, so then the Horde has blocked certain wavelengths of magic? But how could I know what wavelengths are bl-?’ and as if Tactus were reading Glimmer’s mind, he seemed to cut her off mid thought.

“Another fun fact, the most advantageous magic for any organization such as a bake sale or say a large get-together are the following. Magical tools involved in any tech that provides terminals, record keeping or communication channels with continued functionality. Secondly, of course would be to keep potions handy incase of emergency. As Queen I’m sure you’re very much aware of these things.” Tactus declared.

Glimmer staring at Tactus in amazement, jaw almost agape before she regained composure.

“That has been most helpful Tactus. You’ve answered very quickly thus-far.”

Tactus grinned back at her.

“I’ve had plenty of time to learn fun facts.”

Glimmer squinted her eyes in sudden confusion as a thought entered her mind.

” You’re very forthcoming with these…facts. I understand that you cannot discuss everything, and as good as you are with your words, I’m sure you’ve happened to slip up some time. What exactly would occur if you did slip up?”

Tactus squinted back, not pleasantly remembering the times he had slipped up. Still, he needed to get the point across to her.

“I would receive a…course correction. I cannot discuss the details of such a course correction. But I’m sure that I can figure out a fun fact to tide over your curiosity. It may be _shocking_ to hear.” He says, putting emphasis on the word shocking and tapping his collar again, making Glimmer wince in empathy.

“I’m very sorry to hear that.” Glimmer responds with her hands covering her mouth and turned away from him. She needed a moment to regain her composure before talking with him, she didn’t want to focus on the collar now or put him at risk of getting electrocuted. She didn’t want to find out how strong the shocks were or potentially put him through that.

Tactus noticed her sudden repulsion at the realization. But he was desperate for conversation after so long with no one of interest to chat with. So, he did what he could to reassure her to continue. He felt that she should know as much information as she could get her hands on right now. He sat down beside her on the couch to be at eye level with her.

“If you’d like to continue, I’m more than happy to oblige. I’m sure you must have many questions Queen Glimmer, and it’d be best to clear up as many questions as you have sooner. The more info you have the more time you have to………ponder the info.” Tactus pressed.

The Queen stared back at the almost broken looking bird that sat beside her and into his lavender eyes. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded in agreement. She knew she had to continue but felt it best to do something that might improve her sanity.

“I think I want to move to other topics.”

“Of course, what subject would you care to discuss?” Tactus responded in earnest.

“Who are you, really? I remember how you introduced yourself earlier, an old noble? But…I’m sorry. I don’t even know how much of this you can even answer, but,..just…who are you?”

Tactus averts her gaze.

“That……May be a difficult story to tell, but I shall keep it as brief as I can given the circumstances. Were things different I might be capable of telling you the whole story, but for now I shall say what I can. Is that sufficient?”

Glimmer nods.

“Just tell me what you can or want to, I know your thing about your disregard for your own preference. But my order is that if you are to tell me this, you must take your preference into account, okay? You don’t have to tell me everything now but-“ Glimmer trailed off, Tactus just giving her a fond look and his closest approximation to a smile.

“I understand.”

“Thank you.”

Tactus takes a deep breath, not because he’d be speaking for a while, but to calm himself down enough to speak clearly.

“Now, where do I begin?”


	4. The Caged Bird Sings

“Where should I begin?” Tactus’ voice resonated in the near silence of the room. He was sitting on the couch besides Glimmer now, staring up at the projection of stars on the ceiling.

“Whatever you can say, I know that some of the topics you’d rather not discuss or simply are unable to, so just tell me what you can.” Glimmer reaffirmed. Staring up at the same stars. She had never actually seen stars but had heard of them from old stories.

She hadn’t had the time to properly appreciate the ceiling’s projection yet. Staring into the seemingly vastness of infinite space and infinite stars filled her with a sense of wonder. She had heard of the possibility for infinite worlds while being homeschooled in the castle.

And just a few months before, they had learned that Etheria had been displaced from the rest of the universe. This had explained that beyond the world she had been raised on, there were infact other worlds. Yet, here she sat with someone from another world.

Yes, there was Adora, and even Hordak on the rare instances she had seen him in battle. But never had there ever been someone she could chat with whom had actually experienced their own world. Then again, maybe Glimmer was starting to just assume. She wasn’t sure how long ago the Horde had taken Tactus. It was entirely possible he had never seen it at all. Still, her mind raced in the brief span of time it took for Tactus to find his starting point.

“…I’ve found it.” Tactus decries, pointing to a small cluster of stars on the farthest corner of the ceiling projection. 

“This star map is a bit different from the perspective I remember, but I believe it’s this one.” Tactus stands up, reaching a claw out to the roof and tapping a single peculiar looking star in the vastness of space.

“That is Aves, our star. Our sun.”

Glimmer looked at the tip of his claw, and sure enough, there was a star at the end of it.

“A purple star? Your sun was purple?”

“Yes, not that it was common. Truth be told, we could never figure out why it was that shade. It’s not a typical star color.”

“...I wouldn’t know.”

“Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t.” Tactus remarks with a shrug.

“But that’s besides the point, near the star of Aves was a little planet called Raptoris. That’s where my homeland of Aviaria was.”

“Was?” Glimmer asks, immediately concerned at that specific word choice.

“What do you mean, was?”

Tactus turns to her and takes a deep breath.

“I…wouldn’t call it Aviaria anymore. Let’s put it that way. But we’ll get to that.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Do not apologize, you are not the one who caused our strife.” Tactus states, looking back to the projection.

“Aviaria was beautiful, even as I had seen it. I never saw her in her prime, we had already begun our……unfortunate conflict with a group that needs not be named.”

Tactus mentions, tapping the side of his collar for emphasis.

“But in it’s prime, as I was told, there were trees as tall as mountains, stretching for miles and miles. The air was clean and crisp, with the purple sun bathing the planet in it’s warm glow. When it snowed the sunlight gleamed off the piles of snow and seemed to make the ground glitter as if it were made of gemstones.

Tactus described, motioning infront of him, as if the visions of such a world were appearing in the same room as them.

Wistfully, he continued describing his world.

“The rain provided a reliable source of water. The canopy of so many massive trees filtering what little pollutants there were on its own. There were Avians of every type living in every kind of housing you can imagine. Some had built sprawling cities amongst the trees in massive nest homes with bridges between, perches and carvings into these millennia old wooden monoliths. Sprawling as high up as far as the eye could see. But that was before my time.”

“And what was it like in your time?” Glimmer asked, staring at the owl in great concern. She had already begun to regret getting him onto this topic. She had tried to help her friends through the loss of their kingdoms, but this might have been beyond even her.

Tactus grimaced, his hand reaching up to grip the collar around his neck with uncertainty.

“Well. I…cannot say everything entirely. I don’t think so at least. But I can tell…a story…if that will suffice.” Tactus asked, looking to Glimmer again just as he had before when he had wanted to pass along information potentially hazardous to his own health.

“Then Tactus, please. Tell us a story.”

And so Tactus began to tell his tale.

* * *

In a land known as Aviaria, there lived the Aviarians. They were ruled by the Queen known as Queen Minerva. She had been the sole ruler of their entire governing body for longer than most could even remember. Her long lifespan was credited to her mastery of the alchemical arts, one of the most respected practices for an Aviarian.

Of the chief-most beliefs of the Aviarians, was the belief that there was something beneficial to all creatures in nature. Not just this, but that those aspects could be understood and used for any potential purpose. Assuming you had materials with the attributes necessary of course. Alchemy for an Aviarian was different from what most would think of the practice.

It wasn’t an equivalent exchange, it was seeing the beauty in nature and applying the same principles to other forces. Queen Minerva, therefore, was believed to live so long because she had seen the life force of others and mimicked it just the same.

She had supposedly become so skilled in alchemy, that she was able to craft the rarest of solutions, a substance known as “Phoenix Fire”. The Phoenix was a legendary creature for the Aviarians, a being purple as the sun that could find itself reborn at the end of its life. Phoenix Fire, therefore, was an elixir that supposedly could extend an individual’s life, heal the gravest of wounds with ease, and bestow upon them unbelievable energy, if only for a brief period.

There was the longstanding rumor within the kingdom, that due to Minerva’s distinctive purple colorings, just like the phoenix of their beliefs, that Minerva’s position was by divine right. That somewhere in her family tree, long past anyone’s memory, one of her ancestors had been a phoenix. Some even had said that Minerva possessed the philosopher’s stone itself, citing it as the only reason she and her family were capable of producing Phoenix Fire.

Minerva had never confirmed the rumor, but it was true that many family members shared the same distinctive purple markings. She was almost a deity in herself with how long she had seemed to live, at least 4 or 5 times the average life expectancy for any ordinary Owl.

She had many partners in her life, and almost as many children. But her children were seemingly cursed to live short lives.

Some would say it was retribution for the Queen’s long lifespan, and some would say it was simply bad luck. Many conflicts arose in the times they had lived, and seemingly as she lost her children to whatever war or conflict arose, the Queen’s health began to wane. Particularly in the last 50 years of her life.

Despite the many children she had had in her life, only 3 remained by the time the greatest threat that Aviaria had ever faced had finally arrived. A day had come, when steel blotted out the skies they had flown and called their home, and rained fire down upon the people of Aviaria.

The Eldest at the time, was Talia. She had been practicing on becoming a master alchemist and potioneer as her mother. She was next in line, and with how their mother’s health had declined, it was fair to say there might have been a chance that she would have to become the new Queen should her mother unexpectedly pass on. So she had studied and practiced for the position as was reasonably expected of her.

Second-in-Line was Decimus, tenth child of Minerva. He was a military bird, just as their father Castor had been. Having risen through the ranks he found himself a remarkably young general for his age. His quick thinking, cunning, and brutality had served him in the recent wars against the Accipiter Separatists. A group of hawks that had tried to break away, but the story of that is neither here nor there.

The final and last child of the Late-Queen Minerva was a certain owl that needs not be named. He had barely hatched when the sky began to rain fire from the new invaders. He was underweight, and certainly not nearly as fine an example of his lineage as his elders. But, if there was one thing he shared with them, it was passion.

In a time of such crisis, everyone was expected to participate. Especially the royal family. Quickly, all factions of Avians in the land of Aviaria and beyond were forced unite in order to have a chance to survive against this new menace.

Talia had overseen negotiations and helped Minerva to gain favor with other groups, while Decimus had to keep the military together and strategize a way to defeat the new enemy. The enemy rarely ever sent ground troops down unless it was to capture territory, so method of war had to be adjusted.

The new enemy did not bother with fighting from the sky as they were accustomed to, or even on the ground. They rained fire from the sky, and anything they could not take they razed to the ground. Water was poisoned, air was made unbreathable, livestock and food sources destroyed. Everything was done to break the people’s spirit.

In desperation, the soldiers fighting the new enemy found themselves younger and younger. Even the youngest child of the royal family found himself enlisting at barely 15, which had become the new average age of a fighter.

He was never the most exemplary in anything before then, but he shared some of his family’s proficiency in potion making and did well considering the circumstances. He knew his tactics and he was good at keeping his fellow soldiers alive through each battle. He saved a fair sum in his time and helped prevent plenty of potential missteps. Though by no means a fantastical fighter compared to the rest of his family, the youngest son quickly found himself in the rank of officer. He gave firm orders and when the battle was done knew how to patch up his comrades.

But, this story sadly would not have a happy ending. After the war had raged on for a solid 20 years the people of Aviaria had finally lost their war of attrition. Too tired to keep fighting and having run out of soldiers and people for an effective military force, the Aviarians were defeated.

Talia, cornered, had burned down the family archives on potionmaking and alchemy, particularly the ones with the potential to cause the greatest loss of life. Not wanting even, a fraction of the family knowledge to pass into the invader’s hands. She had stayed behind in the library and made sure everything was destroyed at the cost of her own life.

Decimus had died in combat, refusing to back down from the enemy, he was turned to ash by their cannons.

And Queen Minerva’s death was never properly determined. One rumor was she committed suicide by poisoning so as not to be captured. Had she been captured the family secret on Phoenix Fire would have fallen into the Horde’s hands.

But what of the youngest child? Well, without knowledge of Phoenix Fire’s creation, or even knowing a fraction of the more dangerous elixirs that Talia knew. The youngest was captured with his small band of soldiers. He had surrendered, not out of fear but out of protection for whom was left.

As the last of his line, he felt that his only purpose left was to…

* * *

“Carry on.” Tactus finished the story. Trying to hold back tears. It had been hard to speak at certain points. Even though he didn’t have to physically speak, just the mental processes of relaying the words through the collar. Maybe it was the grief, but as he tried to speak, he could have sworn the collar grew tighter as if to choke him out.

Sitting down on the couch next to the monarch, whom was in total shock. She knew it was going to be bad, she saw what the guy’s life was like _now. _She had helped friends go through seemingly everything, but dealing with this was way out of her league. Her heart felt like it was going to shatter into a million pieces, and she found herself trying to keep it together too. She wasn’t sure how to handle this, and that might’ve been the worst part for her. With a shaky hand, she reached out to put a hand on the large owlman’s shoulder.

“Hey…” Glimmer says, before suddenly pulling him into a hug around his side. Tactus rather awkwardly taking the hug from the much smaller person. Still rubbing his eyes. 

“I must apologize.” Came out the Owl’s collar, but he didn’t even attempt to look down at her, afraid he’d still be in tears. The voice that he projected had retained its professionalism, despite the bird’s clearly different mood.

“I thought I could talk about this, but I can’t. Look at me I’ve gone and burst into tears!” He exclaims.

“Tactus, it’s okay…”

“I don’t even know why I’ve said all this, I barely know you, and yet here you are. Why…why are you consoling me?” Tactus effused out.

Glimmer looks up at him, backing away for a moment to sit up. She wasn’t nearly as tall, but when she said this, she wanted to be looking into his eyes. She felt that someone like him hadn’t had someone do that to him in forever. Look at him like an equal and a friend.

“Because I don’t like what they’ve done to you. Because…because I think people should be treated better than all this. But mostly because…I just thought you were someone who needed the help. You don’t deserve this, any of this. Not this collar, not these clothes that are too tight for your wings, not this life! It’s been bugging me since I saw you, and I just…”

Glimmer had to stop herself. She had forgotten the collar’s possible microphone surveillance for the briefest of moments. Still, she had to say something.

“Tactus…I think…wait…” She placed a hand on his cheek, lightly pressed against the shockingly fuzzy feathers of his face.

“No, I know. It’s going to get better. Ok? I promise you that.”

The room was silent for what felt like an eternity as Tactus stared back at Glimmer. He almost seemed to break into a smile. But finally, he spoke.

“Force Commander Catra was wrong you know.” 

Glimmer was taken aback.

“What?”

“What she said, earlier. About you. If there was ever a Queen of Speech, I believe I’m looking at her. Because, well because I believe you. Thank you, Glimmer, Queen of Brightmoon.”

Glimmer smiled warmly back at Tactus.

But their happy moment was quickly ruined. The sound of a metal door loudly opening from behind them caught their attention.

“Yo, why the fuck do you princesses take baths? Cause let me tell you, drying off after and getting out suuuuuucked.”

Catra can be heard, calling from down the hallway as she struts forward in her new bathrobe. Lightly twirling the robe tie in her hands.

“The potion was pretty nice th-THE FUCK DID I JUST WALK IN ON” Catra stopped abruptly.

Glimmer turned back to Catra behind her, then back to Tactus, whom was still not wearing the top half of his tunic. And there they were sitting, awfully close to eachother, alone, with them having been looking deep into eachother’s eyes just a moment ago.

Glimmer turned bright crimson at the implied insinuation.

Tactus, in an instinctual desire for decency dived off the couch to grab his tunic off the floor from where he had left it. Unintentionally making the scene seem worse as he quickly pulled it back over him.

Glimmer tried to speak first.

“We didn’t-“

“I do believe I’ve overstayed, and I simply must return to my living quarters for the night!” Tactus shouted as he practically threw his outfit back on.

“I shall see you tomorrow! Please remember the sleep-aids if you need help sleeping tonight!” Tactus blurted out as he rushed for the door.

“Damn right I fucking will.” Catra called out to the fleeing owl. The door shutting behind him. Glimmer rubbing her temples as he leaves.

‘Why did you have to leave like that, you just made this so much worse!’ Glimmer thought. Now she was left alone to have to explain to Catra what had happened.

“Well Sparkles, I knew we needed allies. But I didn’t think we needed them _that_ bad.”

Glimmer stared up at Catra in the most tired look of exasperated fury. She took a deep breath, trying to channel her inner strength and even wished that her mother was there. Just to guide her words and give her the strength she needed to say what needed to be said. Calmly, she spoke.

“Catra. I did not sleep with him.”

Catra rolled her eyes and spun on her heels. Heading back to her room.

“Whatever you say, Queen Owlfucker.”


	5. Let Sleeping Cats Lie

Glimmer couldn’t breathe. She felt as if she were swimming up from the deepest pit of the deepest ocean. The light at the surface was impossible to see, but she kept struggling to move up. Splashing around in an endless black void she tried to reach for the surface, and through the raging tides of water she could hear voices.

“You weren’t there!” Bow’s voice resonated through the water.

“We need to work together instead of you pushing us away!” Adora’s voice echoed like the most distant whale call.

The voices seemed to make the water pressure rise, no matter how high she tried to ascend. She was terrified as despite her efforts she didn’t feel like she was any closer to the surface. Her lungs stung for air and her vision felt like it grew blurry.

“Glimmer” a voice cried out, seemingly coming from the deepest depths of the floor below her. The ocean appeared to be as deep as Etheria was wide. 

“You were reckless, and put you, and the other rebels in danger” cried out another voice, it was terse but oddly angelic. Glimmer knew it too well as her mother’s voice. She couldn’t remember when she had said it, but she knew that her mom had restated the same concern repeatedly throughout the years. With what felt like impending death in such a vast ocean, Glimmer silently wished she had taken more of her mother’s words and advice into account when she was alive. Or at the very least, after her passing.

“Glimmer……” The unidentifiable yet distinctly feminine voice cried out again. Almost as sing-song as a siren’s call through the inky darkness.

Of all the voices that seemed to sting the worst might’ve been her own.

“Maybe your best isn’t good enough! If it was, then my mother would still be here!” the voice lashed out.

Glimmer almost couldn’t believe it was her own voice, but she remembered saying that. It was just after Mermista had lost her kingdom and tensions were high. The words almost fell out of her mouth mid argument. She did hold some resentment to Adora deep down, she couldn’t help it. She knew that Adora had done her best and that was all that could be expected, but it hadn’t made her feel any better.

But ever since those words had left her mouth, she had regretted it. She didn’t mean to actually say that, even if deep down she had wanted to for almost the longest time. She thought she had wanted to see the look on Adora’s face after she vented such words. She wanted Adora to get angry or talk back or deny it. She wanted Adora to throw the blame on someone else, but when Adora had begun to cry Glimmer realized the awful truth.

The things Glimmer had thought about her and dismissed were the same fears and concerns Adora had been thinking too. She had told Adora the same thing she had beaten herself up over for countless nights, all because she had lost her cool. Then later she had ignored Bow and Adora and put the whole of Etheria at risk for some foolish plan. She ignored all the warning signs and ended up practically setting up a landing pad for Horde Prime. She let everyone down.

Despite spotting the tiniest flicker of light in the distance, Glimmer found herself slowing her movements. Not seeing the point to persist in fighting or trying. Maybe it’d just be best to go now? She found herself floating still in the murky depths. Her eyes slowly closing as the voice called out again. 

“Glimmer!” The voice cried out again, but this time Glimmer could finally recognize who it was. 

And like that, Glimmer’s eyes snapped open and she was wide awake.

Glimmer was in bed, the same room that she received when she had arrived earlier that day. Well, she assumed earlier that day. It was space afterall, and it was hard to keep track of time without a day and night cycle.

Still, it was definitely the same room. The same ceiling with the projection of space outside. The same ugly-as-all-hell sheets on her bed, with the picture of Horde Prime on the bedside table which Glimmer had only a few hours before flipped down. Of the very long list of unpleasantries that had happened, she did not want to add ‘The creepy picture of Horde Prime stared at me all night as I slept’ to the list.

But the focus of her attention wasn’t on the tasteless room. It was on the individual who had slipped into bed next to her while she was asleep. Sitting warm and cozy under the covers, smug as could be. 

“Aww, Queen finally awoke from her beauty rest?” Catra asks with a smirk, turning to rest her elbow on the pillow beside her.

“Catra.”

“Yes, Queen Owlfucker?” Catra responded, quick as a whip.

Glimmer grimaced and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“First, That’s not my name. Secondly, I didn’t sleep with him, we just talked! Finally, and most importantly. Catra. What the FUCK are you doing in my bed!? You have your own room literally just across the hall with its own bed!”

“I was bored in the middle of the night and came over here to get cozy. I swear, your bed is soooo much comfier than mine.” Catra replies, rubbing her face into the pillow.

“It feels soooo good, so please don’t break it when your new boyfriend comes over. God, what will your old Beau Bow say about this?”

Glimmer rips the pillow away from Catra who just flops onto the pillow. Exploding with anger. 

"I never dated Bow! Nor is Tactus my new boyfriend. Why are you so obsessed with who I’m into?! Is it cause you’re still hung up over Adora, or cause you can’t bother to think up something interesting to start a conversation with like, I don’t know? ‘Hey Glimmer, Sorry I got us into this mess by stomping all over Etheria with my Horde Soldier Army! Gee, we really should learn to cooperate!’ or ‘Nice work Glimmer! You really nailed us an ally the-‘”

Glimmer’s rant was cut off by Catra roaring with laughter suddenly. 

“WHAT’S SO FUNNY?!”

Catra was in tears from laughing so hard, and her grip on the pillow tightened, her claws digging in deep and cutting through the pillowcase. She briefly paused to catch her break, practically wheezing with laughter.

“You really should watch your wording. You just said ‘nailed us an ally’” and Catra continued to laugh beside the Queen.

Glimmer was staring at Catra in a mix of annoyance and befuddlement as she continued to laugh. The absurdity of the situation and the wordplay slowly washing over her and she couldn’t help but crack a smile too. That smile quickly becoming a series of giggles before she found herself laughing along too.

There the feline and the queen sat laughing for a few minutes despite everything that had happened. Catra was the first to stop laughing, putting a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder.

“Ok, so the real reason I came over was cause I figured we’re safer together. These doors almost certainly can be unlocked by Horde Prime or whoever, so it’s better we aren’t separated too much so we can keep an eye on eachother. Last thing we need is to be separated in the middle of the night and then we’re totally screwed.”

Glimmer gave a somewhat reserved nod. She was still angry over Catra’s recent antics.

“Ok. That’s fair, I guess. Just wish you told me sooner instead of waking me up out of nowhere.”

“I couldn’t sleep, even with that potion your boyfriend made.”

“Oh for f-“ Catra reached out and covered Glimmer’s mouth.

“I’m just fucking with you. This is called ribbing. We do it a ton in the horde when we’re trying to be friendly, got it? That’s all it is, and it’s stressful here. Just trying to lighten the mood, as fucked and awful as it is right now. Okay? Besides, I’m not going to say it around him cause I know you worked so hard to get us and ally doing, whatever that was I walked into. Happy now?”

Glimmer continued to stare at Catra with deep anger and resentment even after she pulled her hand away.

“Yeah, but I didn’t sleep with him!”

“Glimmer. I know. You wanna know how I know? Because I can tell that with a guy like that it’d look like the world’s craziest pillow fight happened. Just feathers all over the place!”

Catra exclaims, looking dead seriously at Glimmer for a few moments. Glimmer was staring straight back at her, trying to keep her composure but letting loose a small snicker as she thought about it. The two of them laughing for another minute or so. Falling back and staring up at the ceiling of stars above them.

But eventually the laughter died down again, and Catra turned to look to Glimmer.

“So, what did you two do anyways?” Catra asks.

Glimmer rolling her eyes.

“Still on this? Okay. Fine. I’m going to say it again. We talked; I noticed his shirt was really tight on his wings. You saw that too right?”

“To be honest, I didn’t think he still had wings.”

“Well, you were right on him having been in this position for way too long. Guy is fighting it, but he’s still not able to do anything about it or say much. Plus that collar delivers electric shocks to him if he says too much or says the wrong thing and it picks up on it.”

“Fucking yowch.”

“YEAH. Well, he doesn’t even take his own opinion into account when he asks things. So, I had to order for him to take off the tunic so his wings could breathe. That led into him suddenly telling me his entire life story, and then there I am with a huge sobbing birdman sitting right next to me.”

“At that point why didn’t you just order him to stop crying or stop talking about it?”

“Well, I just figured the guy could use a little kindness and he might turn around! So, I gave him some consolation, told him things would get better and I think I won him over!”

Catra raised a brow in skepticism.

“Really? You not only got him to talk about his entire life story, bu-“

“Hey, he gave it to me! I didn’t think he would, but he did!”

“Yeah but you got him to not only tell you basically everything, but you think you won him over with just a little kindness and that was it? You didn’t use your weird princess mind control magic?”

Glimmer felt a rush of flashbacks and frustration to dealing with Adora in her early days after she switched sides. Immediately screaming.

“WE DON’T HAVE MINDCONTROL MAGIC” Catra recoiling at her outburst.

“OK GEEZ. I’m right here!” Catra cries out, rubbing her left ear.

“Sensitive ears! Come on!”

Glimmer wincing in sympathy.

“Right. I’m sorry. I just…why does the Horde always come up with the most infuriating and repetitive propaganda? You would not believe how many times I’ve heard that from ex-horde.”

“Honestly, that makes alotta sense. I always thought that sounded kinda stupid, even as a kid. I figured if you Princesses had mind control magic, why wouldn’t you just mind control Hordak and be done with the war? Make him call it off and that be that.”

“OH, I WISH! Nope. I get the power of light sparkles and teleportation. Which is super useful admittedly, but mind control would make things sooo much easier! But nooo. I gotta be the nice person all the time and do things the hard way!” Glimmer shouts, falling back as if she were shouting at the artificial heavens above.

“I can’t believe that.” Catra says.

“I just can’t believe you were able to convince him on kindness alone.”

Glimmer sat back up to look at Catra.

“You would be amazed at what a little kindness can do for someone. That’s how…that’s how we got Adora. We showed her there was more to the world than the Horde and that the Horde was wrong, and then she decided to stick around.”

Catra stared back at Glimmer in uncomfortably bemused silence.

“And then She-Ra came into play.”

Glimmer eyed Catra, remembering something Adora had mentioned in the past about the way Catra always seemed to refer to Adora and She-Ra as if they were different people.

“You mean Adora. She-Ra is Adora, Catra. Yes, it’s a big transformation, but Adora is the heart. She’s always been the one doing the work, she’s always the one who’s willing to rush into battle before she’s thought things through. The one who always comes save her friends and wants to do what’s right even though she always doubts herself and what she does. It’s Adora. Catra. It’s always been Adora and how she’s been.”

Catra guffaws in indignancy.

“You think I don’t know that? I grew up with her! I know what Adora is like, I’ve always known that’s what she’s like. I just wanted to know what the fuck it was that convinced her to abandon the person who thought that-“

“She’d always be by your side no matter what? And now you feel like she’s left you because you screwed up bad. You did something that she wouldn’t agree with, and Adora being Adora felt the need to stick to her guns about what she believed was right.” Confided Glimmer, now capturing Catra’s full attention.

“And Adora being Adora…” Catra speaks up, quickly trailing off.

“Adora was right.” They speak in unison, staring into eachother’s eyes.

Catra’s lips curled into a half-amused smile.

“Guess we ain’t too different after all, eh Sparkles?”

“Hmmph. Guess we aren’t.” Glimmer says, returning the smile. Leaning against the back wall behind the bed, looking straight back up at the stars.

“It’s almost beautiful.” Glimmer remarks. Catra deciding to join her in the stargazing.

“I suppose it is… Never actually seen stars before, real or otherwise. It does have a kinda mystery to them I guess, but it’s not my thing I don’t think.”

The room fell silent again. 

“Catra.”

“Glimmer. Don’t say it. I know what you’re going to say, and honestly? I think it’s too late.”

“Catra, I think I figured out your problem.”

Catra looks down at her feet. Curling into a ball in bed.

“…That I push everyone away because I’m an awful person?”

“No. Well, yes. But that’s not what I was going to say. You think that being a bad person means you can’t ever do better. But we’re not perfect people. If I…no. When, I see Adora and everyone else again. It’s going to take forever for me to make this better. But I’m still going to try. If Adora taught me anything, that the thing that makes all the difference is just being willing to take a leap of faith. To try to do better.”

Catra remained silent for a few moments.

"I mean you’re still alive! You have plenty of time to try still. Now, now is the perfect time to start.”

Catra lowered her head. Taking the blanket and starting to cover herself.

“Catra?” Glimmer asked, scooting over to her.

“D-don’t look at me r-right now. Okay?” Catra stammers out. Her voice a quavering mess.

“Catra…” Glimmer cooed.

“If I go back. If I apologize and do better…what if she still doesn’t forgive me?”

“Then you’ll know that you tried to do better. You can’t expect forgiveness from everyone. To be honest, I still haven’t forgiven you for everything either. But we can get there, okay? If we make it out of this, and if you’re willing to try, I’ll do what I can for you.” Glimmer consoled, wrapping her arms around the ball that was Catra.

Catra remains quiet for a few minutes in silent sobs. Catra eventually finding the ability to gain some of her voice back. 

“Ok. Ok.” She sniffled out. Lifting the top of the blanket off her head. Her eyes were watery and starting to redden from the tears.

“I think I’m ready. I accept……I get it now.” Catra sniffled again, breathing hard and coughing suddenly.

“I’m sorry…”

Glimmer immediately reassured her.

“Don’t worry about it, we should just get some rest okay? Talk about this more in the morning or whenever after…whatever it is Horde Prime wants us to do.”

Catra nodded. Relinquishing some of the blankets she had been clutching tight.

“Come on.” Glimmer coaxed, helping Catra to lie back and relax. Catra immediately latching onto Glimmer and hugging her tight. Rubbing her cheek into hers.

“Please. Can you just hold me tonight? It’s just been a lot and I…”

Glimmer shushed Catra.

“Say no more. I get it.” Glimmer assured. Catra nodding and wiping a tear onto her wrist.

“Thank you.” The Force Captain breathed out. Very quickly falling asleep in the arms of the Queen, who almost the day before had been seconds away from killing her.

Things certainly did feel as if they were moving fast for Glimmer.

‘Don’t think it’s even been 24 hours and I’ve had to console 2 crying people. Since when did _I _become the emotionally mature one?’ Glimmer thought to herself, the very tired Monarch drifting off to sleep not long after.


	6. Cat's Couture

Catra stirred in bed, slowly approaching full coherence.

‘God, I had the weirdest dream’, she thought. Her eyes remained closed as she lay there thinking over the course of events.

Hordak’s discovery of what happened to Entrapta, Double Trouble double-crossing her and tearing her entire mental state down. Being captured by the very weird looking Horde Prime. Glimmer getting captured alongside her. The weird owl servant, the fancy room.

She knew her mind must’ve been somewhere crazy when she remembered the later part of the night, having a heart to heart with that crazy glitter chick.

She had been up for nearly 48 hours in the days prior, so Catra had a hard time remembering when she had fallen asleep. She nuzzled her face into her pillow, enjoying just a few more moments of rest.

She had a long day ahead of her when it came to planning Horde movements, they were so close to taking Brightmoon. Her nightmare did make her somewhat concerned about Hordak’s plan, and some of what she could remember from the nightmare were so vivid that she thought it might be a good idea to reconsider some of her future actions.

She shifted in bed and opened her eyes. Eyes widening in fear as she became aware of two startling facts.

She was not in her personal bedroom back in the Frightzone.

And she was not alone.

* * *

Catra felt as if her heart was going to stop. Trying not to make too sudden of moves, she swept her hands around under the bed. Not wanting to potentially wake whoever she was in bed with at that moment.

‘Oh god it wasn’t a dream…oh fuck I’m actually here aren’t I!?’ her thoughts raced as her hands slid around under the covers, finally reaching something soft and distinctly alive.

Feeling someone else’s hand with just the tip of her finger. She slowly turned her head, finding her worst fears were true.

Just next to her was the Queen of Brightmoon herself, hair tousled with a serious case of bedhead.

Catra, stone faced with fear, slid out of bed and towards the steel door in swift silent strides. Stopping suddenly, her back arching with shame and fear.

‘I can’t even leave, the door might be too loud…..god I can’t believe last night happened. I was in tears, I said so much I shouldn’t have. That entire talk, all the encouragement to do better…It was real?’

Catra glanced back at the sleeping Queen who snored softly.

‘I’m seeing this, and I can’t even believe it. I actually said those things and she _wanted _to help me. But, why would she help me? After everything that’s happened?’ Catra curled into a sitting position on the floor. Studying Glimmer as she slept.

‘She looks so calm and relaxed. I’ve never seen her like that, she’s almost adorable.’ Catra reflected, still swept up in emotions from the night before. Gritting her teeth as she steeled her nerves. Shaking the thoughts out of her head.

‘…I can’t fall for it. I said I was ready but I know I’m not. I’m almost sure she lied to me just to ensure we’d work together. I should expect a double cross once we get out of here, but I should at least pretend like I’m going along with everything….but Princesses don’t do double crosses. No, too high and mighty to think about that. But what happened with Double Trouble and the Brightmoon ploy…’

Catra shook her head again, rubbing with her hands.

‘God why can’t I just make up my mind? I don’t know if I trust her, but I need the help. On the slim chance she means what she says, I have something to look forward to. But in the more likely scenario she doesn’t. I have to be ready.’

Catra looked back at the door to leave the room.

‘I can’t even leave without potentially waking her up, stupid loud doors. But I really don’t want to talk with her, not now. This is too vulnerable of a position and I don’t like it. I need to prep myself or something. I just need some time alone!’

Catra seemed to sit in silence for a few minutes before suddenly standing up.

“Fuck it.” She whispered to herself. Resigning to just opening the door and leaving. Whatever happened would happen.

Catra pressed on the button to open the door, and despite the loud hisses of pneumatics and slight metal clanging, Glimmer remained fast asleep. Catra glancing to her as she walked out.

“Of fucking course ya d-“ Catra’s cursing was immediately halted. The feline stumbling on something that had caught her foot barely an inch out the doorway. Twisting to catch herself mid fall, she landed on her hands and knees in the hall between rooms.

“Motherfucker.” Catra mutters, looking at what she had tripped on. Finding a small bundle of clothes that, prior to her tripping on them, had been neatly folded. She gingerly takes up the outfit looking it over.

It was a jumpsuit of sorts, in the same grayish-bluish-white that Horde Prime’s Horde seemed to color everything with. Though a jumpsuit of some kind, the fabric felt soft and smooth like some sort of spandex or polyester blend. Perhaps Lycra? A small green Horde logo adorned each of the arms, but aside from that the outfit had little in the way of markings.

“Not wearing that, thank you.” Catra hissed out, tossing it onto the ground in a heap. She’d rather wash and wear her normal clothes than wear a big horde jumpsuit around like property.

She then noticed out of the corner was a second bundle across the hall with slightly darker colors. Looking down at the outfit again she realized that the size of the jumpsuit at her feet wouldn’t have fit her anyways.

Realizing it was meant to be Glimmer’s, she shrugged leaving on the floor in an unfolded mound to look at the outfit meant for herself.

Picking it up, she noticed that there wasn’t too much of a difference, but the second one at least was closer to gray then white.

It was still repulsive to look at, but it was at least closer to her style. Picking it up, she decided to head back to her restroom to try it on.

Passing between doors and subconsciously adjusting the robe she had slept in as she moved.

The moment she had made it into the restroom, she decided to drop her robe. Standing infront of the full body mirror that had accompanied the restroom.

She examined the site of her wounds from the day before, finding that the ‘Warrior’s Rest’ potion had promoted overall cell growth. Not only had the wounds closed up, but her hair and fuzz had regrown to its previous length in the spots, so much so that Catra had trouble finding where they had been.

‘That fuckin’ bird.’ Catra shook her head, slipping each leg into the jumpsuit. Pulling it over her body with ease.

‘Not too tight, but not too loose either. Good, hate getting grabbed.’ Catra thought, adjusting the jumpsuit as it got up to her chest. Putting her arms through the sleeves and looking herself over in the mirror.

Looking at the uniform, Catra thought it was as if someone had taken some of the old Hordak’s Horde bodysuits, slapped on a worse color pallet, then added on all sorts of geometric shapes in an attempt to look elegant. A noble effort, but Catra was displeased with Horde Prime’s fashion sense. Still, the fit was well made and it was clean.

She turned for a side profile, happy to see the outfit hugged her frame in the right way without being too awkward or making her thighs or calves look weird. Surprised that there had already been a hole for her tail to slip through, taking a closer look to notice that the outfit had seemingly been machined to have that included, so it wasn’t as if they had simply cut a hole out of a random uniform for her with a pair of scissors.

“How Considerate”, Catra sarcastically replied. Looking at the logo on her arm, turning her head to check that it was infact on the other arm too.

“Clothes aren’t too bad actually, but those definitely have to go.” She remarked to herself, flipping out her claws with ease. Grabbing a hold of the logo that was sewn in and ripping out the logo along with the surrounding cloth around it.

Staring at the hole where the logo was, Catra shrugged and decided she might aswell rip the whole sleeve off. Working her claws near the seams at the shoulder and tearing down and out. Pulling both sleeves off with ease and admiring her look in the mirror.

“Now that, is getting to kinda decent.” Catra grinned, taking a moment to check herself out in the mirror with the now removed sleeves. Flexing her arm to see that she had remained as toned as she enjoyed.

The fitness regimen in the Horde had kept her on her toes, and her strength was certainly above average compared to other soldiers. Still, she somehow kept a good frame that made her strength a surprise to anyone she fought.

‘Wish I still had that jacket…or maybe a nice vest.’

Catra looked down at her pantlegs, casually sticking a claw down to tear some holes open. 

‘Ooh, breathing room. My pant’s now Prime, I do what I fucking want!’

Catra’s eyes dart to her chest, about to puncture a hole for a fun little viewing slit before pausing.

‘I only put that the first time to keep Adora’s attention and some of those princesses, keep them nice and distracted. But do I really wanna do that around these fucking clones?’

Her eyes dart back to the direction of Glimmer’s room, practically able to see her still sleeping in bed despite so much steel inbetween them. Catra’s mouth curling into a mischievous little grin.

‘She already said she was going to help me, but…’

Catra’s sharp claw dug into the chest of the outfit, pulling the fabric apart with ease, barely exposing a teasing view at her chest.

‘Might as well hedge my bets, am I right?’

Catra ran her fingers through her hair to puff it out, throwing her head back into a little haughty laugh. Turning around in satisfaction and making her way out of the bathroom.

Passing through the hallway inbetween their rooms, Catra found herself stopped by a familiar figure.

On one knee folding the mess of clothes Catra had casually thrown aside before, was none other than Tactus.

The Owl man’s head seemed to snap to Catra’s direction the moment her bedroom door had opened.

Catra flinched when she had spotted him. The sight of the bird nearly activating her fight-or-flight instincts for the briefest of moments.

“GAH-FUCK!” Catra yelped, her fear immediately turning to anger.

“TACTUS! WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Tactus stood up, standing far taller than her, taking a small little bow as he spoke.

“My apologies, Force Commander Catra. I did not mean to disturb you. I merely meant to tidy Queen Glimmer’s clothes and properly re-fold them.”

He looked her up and down, staring at her torn outfit briefly before making eye contact with her again.

“I see you have made some minor suit modifications, This is to be expected as you adjust your outfit to your liking, however any modifications you make that you would like to keep on future outfits, please let me know so that I can have them machined for your desire as opposed to…DIY’d.”

Tactus exposited, Catra rolling her eyes.

“Gee, thanks. So why are you really here? I know you didn’t just come to fold our clothes.”

Tactus averts her gaze for a brief moment, looking like a scolded child for a moment before speaking.

“You are correct, Force Captain Catra. First and foremost, I must apologize regarding the…incident from the day before. My people are typically very reserved and, let’s say modest in our approach on certain subject matters. Me and Glimmer were having an open form of discussion and I became, for lack of a better term, embarrassed when yo-“

“Yeah yeah, I know. Glimmer told me.” Catra cut him off.

“…Ah, so we are…?”

Catra ignored his question and proceeded with her own.

“What else are you here for, Tactus?”

Tactus blinked in response, deciding not to press the matter further.

“Yes, I am here to ask you how you enjoy your steak and your eggs? I’m making the both of you breakfasts today based on your expected activities with Horde Prime. The most reliable breakfast for you due to your physiology was deemed Steak and Eggs.” 

“Woah woah woah, activity?” Catra exclaimed.

“What do you mean ‘activity’?”

Tactus replied quickly, although not in a remarkably helpful manner.

“I’m not allowed to discuss the matters of your activities, nor am I made aware of them. What I understand is that you are to receive high doses of iron and Protein that are in accordance to your physiology, and Queen Glimmer is to receive a meal high in carbohydrates, iron, and antioxidants.”

Catra blinked in response.

“Ok, I know you’re barely used to talking like a normal person and all, but what in the actual fuck did you just say.”

Tactus let out a small sigh.

“Meals are prepped for the nutrition deemed necessary for your activities. Simple as that. You aren’t receiving much of a choice as to what you’ll be eating but I will do my best to make it taste good.”

Catra narrowed her eyes, thinking back to the food Tactus had mentioned would be her breakfast. It didn’t sound bad, but it was at the very least going to be better than the typical Horde breakfast of food bars. So she hoped, at least. Deciding to just settle for what she had heard, she answered Tactus’ previous question about her food preferences.

“Never had Steak, but I have heard of it. Make it juicy and bloody, and I want my eggs scrambled and cooked throu-…Wait.”

Catra paused, suddenly having a horrific thought enter her head.

“Eggs from what.”

Tactus grimaced at the potential insinuation Catra was making but proceeded to answer regardless.

“Chicken Eggs. Horde Prime has ensured great lengths were made to obtain food from your homeworld.”

Catra felt unease at the ‘great lengths’ Horde Prime was taking for them. She knew it was all part of his ploy to look good and gain their favor. Still, she couldn’t lie and say she wasn’t going to take advantage of it before busting out.

“Okay whatever, look. I’mma wake up Glimmer and give her the details on everything and then we can head to our ‘activities’” Catra snapped at him, using air quotes on the word activities before turning around and passing through the door.

Leaving the owl man to just stand there still holding the clothes. The metallic door shutting behind Catra with a loud clang that made him flinch. 

“Well that went better than expected.” Tactus remarked to himself. Setting the clothes back down and returning to the kitchen to make their breakfast.


	7. A Breakfast Fit For A King

“Oh my god” Catra half-moaned out as she chewed on a small bite of her steak. 

Tactus and Glimmer were caught off guard by her reaction.

“Enjoying the steak, Force Captain Catra?” Tactus asked, setting down Glimmer’s plate infront of her. A 3 stack-high of dark chocolate chip filled pancakes. Glimmer’s eyes practically sparkling at the sight.

She knew what her food was going to be, as she and Tactus had discussed it just moments prior, but to see the perfectly golden stacks of doughy goodness infront of her was another matter. To think that even as prisoner she could receive such an incredible meal was a testament to the great lengths Horde Prime was taking, just to entice them to comply.

Catra, was still in ecstasy from her first bite of the steak. She had lived her entire life subsisting off Horde ration-bars, and the only times she had ever gotten to taste food that approached this level of delectable was either at the Princess Prom or in her brief expedition into the Crimson Wastes.

Still reeling from her first bite, she spoke with her mouth full to the Owlman.

“This steak might be the best thing I’ve ever fucking tasted……it’s so bloody and it’s like, stimulating some deep primal part of my mind! And the flavor… just….fuck.” Catra purred out.

“Oh, it’s just flavored with a touch of salt and-“

“I’m just going to stop you right there before you continue on and on with more spices I don’t know.” Catra cuts him off, not even bothering to cut the steak as she lifted the entire thing with her fork and took a bite, tearing it off with ease.

Tactus looked at Glimmer in slight incredulousity, and as best as he could mouth with a beak, he silently asked

‘Salt?’ Confused that Catra had never even heard of it, Glimmer responding with a shrug. Taking the small metal container of syrup and applying it generously to her pancakes and spreading the dollop of butter all over.

“Would any of you care for anything else?” Tactus queries, as Catra continues to stuff her face with steak and egg. Glimmer flashed Tactus a warm smile.

“I believe we’ll be fine…thank you Tactus.”

Glimmer responds, cutting into the top-most layer of her pancakes and eating a small chunk. They tasted as good as they looked, buttery and sweet. Glimmer was shocked at how good they were, they were almost as good as the ones she had tasted in Brightmoon, if not better. The same kind of pancakes she enjoyed most mornings. Confused but satisfied, the Queen swallowed the bite of pancake before turning to Tactus.

“How did you know how to make them like this? I don’t imagine cooking like this is something you learned before you……began to work for Horde Prime.” Glimmer asks, still trying not to set off any of the issues or use improper wording around Tactus. She was still trying to keep up appearances even if Catra may have lost sight of that. Glancing back over at her torn uniform which had, admittedly surprised and excited Glimmer when she first saw it waking up.

But now, as Catra scarfed down her breakfast with gusto, Glimmer felt she might have to take the lead from this point on. Catra’s paradoxical enjoyment of the amenities and distaste for Prime might have given the wrong impression that they were merely taking advantage of the situation.

Even Glimmer had reluctantly decided to wear the outfit Prime had provided, the white and grays she felt were repulsive, along with the logo, but it was for appearances sake. She was never the most well-tempered, but she could hold it back somewhat if her life was on the line. Not that focusing on her was what she should be doing, but rather on the people around her. Tactus’ voice pulling her back into the moment at hand.

“I…have had some experience cooking for other guests in the past. But Prime always ensures I have proper cookbooks and materials to make the meals of each group of diplomats we encounter. Occasionally as a reward to high ranking officers in Prime’s army, I do the same for them.”

Tactus clarified.

“I see, so these meals are supposed to have the nutrients we need for what we’ll be doing today? I’m not complaining, I’ve just never known something like, well pancakes to be nutritious and good for me.” Glimmer asks, looking down at what was basically death-by-sugar on a plate. Still, it was full of carbs and glucose, so if she was expected to burn this off, she was concerned about just how active she was supposed to be today.

“Your activities today may be somewhat labor intensive, from my personal experience, I believe the Horde will be evaluating your worth to them today. At least partially, it’s a process that will take several days as they need to take multiple trial runs and gather data. Once the process is complete, they may reassign you to more specialized tasks.”

Catra, whom had been listening in on the conversation between gulps, decided to speak up.

“So why are you here? Wasn’t useful anywhere else? Feels kinda hard to believe with how good you are at those potions.”

Catra remarked, casually digging back into her steak. Glimmer, whom had been caught with a mouthful of pancake, made an undignified grunt and face to Catra, hitting the table.

‘The fuck Catra!?’ Glimmer practically said, giving her a death glare from across the table.

‘What happened to trying to be better?’ The Queen thought, still not able to speak.

Tactus chuckled, waving a hand.

“It’s quite alright, it’s a fair question. Simply put, it’s not my place to make the decisions on where I am most useful. They saw me as the best candidate for this job, and so here I am. I don’t question it, I simply do.”

Tactus suddenly squawked as a realization occurred to him.

“OH! That reminds me, I have some business I must attend to with my superiors, so I must be on my way. In about 45 minutes time a few Horde Officer’s should arrive to escort you to your activities for the day.”

Catra raised an eyebrow at the Owlman. Glimmer somewhat concerned for what that entailed.

“You aren’t going to oversee us for that?” The Queen inquired. 

“I will be available to assist you after the activities have occurred. Should anything serious occur that necessitates my interference, they will notify me, and I shall be sent to assist.” Tactus responds, about to leave before suddenly turning back around.

“Forgive me, I had almost forgotten!” Tactus declares, producing two small, lightly cream-colored potion vials from his tunic pockets. Setting them down on the table.

“These are to ensure proper digestion of the foods and maximize their potential for the both of you. As well as settling any discomforts they may cause. Et Cetera, Et Cetera. There isn’t a whole lot to them, but I wholeheartedly recommend that the both of you make sure you drink the entire thing after you have finished your meals.”

Tactus gave the Queen another subtle wink, just as he had the day before. Glimmer noting it and looked back down at the vials on the table. She wasn’t quite sure what the wink had meant, but had already decided to take his advice and drink the potion after her meal.

“Now I must go, so I bid the both of you Adieu. Until we meet again, Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon and Force Captain Catra.” Tactus proclaimed, giving his signature bow and finally leaving out the door. Leaving the two to their breakfast.

A few steps away from the door to their room, the previously cheerful seeming Tactus had dropped his air of decorum and let out a small sigh. The enthusiastic and happy demeanor he had to put on for guests left him exhausted and drained.

Before he had even gotten a hundred feet away from the door, two Horde Guards met at his flanks and followed beside him.

“Hello again boys. I was just making my way to my cell for my briefing, as the Major had ordered.” Tactus says dryly, knowing that most guards refused to speak unless spoken to by a superior. Still, he was obligated to explain his current directives lest they take action under false assumptions. The guards reply with nods, following close to Tactus.

Tactus, once again was recipient of the uncomfortable feeling of being seemingly dwarfed by the horde soldiers. Each clone was typically in the ranges of 7 to 8 feet tall, which made even the 6’5 owlman feel minuscule by comparison. The clacking of his taloned toes against the metallic floor, alongside their hardened polymer boots filled the hallways.

After only a few minutes of walking, Tactus was delivered to his cell door. He took a deep breath of air, letting it fill his lungs. It’d be the freshest breath he’d have for the next few hours.

One of the guards placed a hand on the panel beside the steel door. Most high security doors and electronics on the Citadel were biometrically locked and would only respond to a Horde Clone’s touch. The door slid open, and the sight of Tactus’ typical cell filled him with a familiar sense of dread.

It was a small solitary confinement cell, just long enough for the slab of concrete Tactus slept on, with just enough space to include the chrome toilet, a sink attached to the top of said toilet. A drain at the floor of the cell, which Tactus knew only existed for the days when he’d finally get to “shower”. Though shower might be a generous term for the activity. Showering for him, was being blasted with a hose after he’d been offered a 2-minute window to lather himself up with a handful of liquid soap.

Tactus was butted by the staff of the Horde clone in his lower back, pushing him in. Nearly being caught by the metal door as it slammed shut behind him. The pale glow of the ceiling’s light filled his cell, as it always did. Still on, just as it had always been.

He had hated the cell ever since he had ‘earned’ it. The light that never shut off, the cold hard cement bench he called a bed, and the constant surveillance from a camera built into the topmost corner. But the thing that might have bothered him the most was just how small it was. Even pressed up into one wall as far as he could squeeze his body, he barely had enough room for just one of his wings to be open at any one time.

The Owl perched on the edge of his ‘bed’. Waiting impatiently for his superior to arrive. He wondered just which inane greeting he’d arrive with to try and break him this time. It was always something with him, as if it were a game. In truth, Tactus believed The Major had simply grown bored with him. Doing whatever he could to fulfill his duty to Prime of still trying to extract info from him, despite knowing Tactus likely had little to offer. Though more likely, it was just The Major’s sadism. 

That clone always had a high opinion of himself, insisting he was one of the clones with the good grace to have received more of Prime’s dominant genes than the rest. Claiming it was a testament to the how he achieved his position. Though rank was primarily dictated by genetics in the Horde Army, usefulness played a fairly major part as well. The Major in question, had proved his usefulness in previous conquests and interrogation enough to be the head of Prime’s local interrogation team. 

Though Tactus’ people had always been a hard case for him, and just as egotistical as Prime himself, the greater the challenge the more he felt the need to overcome it. So, The Major chose to make himself known to the Aviarian as one not to be messed with, pulling every powerplay and threat in the book.

The food slot on the door slid open, and a metal thermos was casually chucked into the cell. The metal clanging hard against the concrete floor, painfully loud for the Owl’s sensitive hearing in such a confined space.

“Wakey Wakey, Tactus. It’s time for Breakfast!” The Major called in a mock-falsetto voice.

Tactus, casually picked up his thermos and addressed the visitor.

“Major.”

The Major’s face appeared through the food slot, an evil little grin flashing through. As a clone, he looked similar to Horde Prime. However, he only had 3 eyes as opposed to Prime’s 4. His hair was buzzed short, and he wore a visor over the lone eye on the left side of his face. A gadget that some of the higher-ranking members of the Horde Military used. A readout of data appearing in view that gave him all sorts of information on whatever he stared at, though the details of which Tactus wasn’t entirely sure. He simply knew that little device meant hell for anyone and everyone who stood in his way.

The foul Major spoke up in almost glee.

“How goes the butlering? Clean any toilets yet? Or have they used you as a footstool? Maybe even perform some sexual favors?”

Tactus remained silent, not feeling the need to dignify the Major’s questions with a response.

“Though I suppose it’s not my business to know if you have or not, it’s part of your job description to do whatever they ask. But first and foremost, I must remind you to follow the Horde’s orders to you. Get as much information they let slip as possible to us. Any slip up or attempt to escape and ensure that they eat the food we provide. It’s the easiest way to get them to take their ‘compliance medication’ after all.” 

The Major detailed, Tactus’ jaw clenching as he rattled on.

“You did put the compliance medication in their food, yes?”

Tactus paused for a moment.

“Yes.” His voice rattled out from his collar, not particularly enthusiastic with what he had to do.

The Major’s eyes narrowed.

“You wouldn’t lie to me Tactus, would you? You were awfully slow on that response.”

“No, Major. My collar would have shocked me if I had lied, you know that.” 

Tactus hadn’t lied after all. Though he did technically give them the compliance medication, he had hoped Glimmer and Catra would be smart enough to take the nullifying potion he had left for them.

Making the potions in secret had been difficult. Tactus had full access to the Medicinal potion-making materials as long as he was to be serving Glimmer and Catra. But as each potion he’d make would be checked before he carried them out, Tactus was forced to smuggle the vials in his mouth.

Though not a pleasant experience or by any means incredibly sanitary, Tactus was thankful of his collar for once. Having used it to speak without use of his mouth, as he always did. He wasn’t entirely sure what was compelling him to take such risks, but he knew there was a good chance he was their best hope for getting out, and hopefully bringing him too.

“I don’t like your tone Tactus. It’s too close to insolence for my taste.” The Major spat back.

“Forgive me, Major.” Tactus apologized immediately.

“You might need to be reminded of your place at some point. Perhaps we should throw you to some of the officer’s later? I’m sure they’re starting to miss you.”

Tactus swallowed hard.

“That won’t be necessary Major.”

“It had damn well better not be. But I am almost as a forgiving man as Prime, Tactus.” The Major droned. Tactus preparing himself for another one of his speeches.

“You refused to give information for so long…”

‘Information I didn’t have.’ Tactus thought, wishing he were capable of saying such a thing. But knowing the Major, any more insolence would be met by a shock. Even now there was a good chance the Major had the controller for his collar. Without even needing to do anything wrong the Major could shock him, just as he occasionally did for fun.

“But your potion skills were admittedly remarkable enough to make you something of an anomaly, your words precise and you don’t even need to act to garner their sympathy. You were handpicked because we felt that you’d be something they can latch onto an identify with, and to a person like you, they’ll open up to their heart’s content.”

Tactus, not wanting to even look at the Major, in shame looked at the floor.

“You make them sing like canaries, and if you behave and do as your told. I promise you; you’ll be rewarded. We’ll see about moving you to a bigger room than this, one for someone of your stature. A king should not be in a room such as this.”

“I was never a king, Major. I never performe-“

“Never performed your rite of passage, yes. I’ve heard it before, but we can make that happen. We can give you what you desire. Tactus, Last Noble from the Bloodline Hemo Invicta, Ruler of the people of Aviaria. We can even bring you your mother’s crown. All yours Tactus. Rightfully yours as it always should’ve been.” The Major coaxed.

Tactus heard the Major’s words, listening to them carefully. Turning to face him.

“Why would you give that to me? Now of all times, over this?”

“Oh, I’m not offering this to you. This comes from Prime himself, in all his wisdom and mercy. He has seen fit to return you the throne and crown. All he asks is that for once you be compliant. None of that craziness you had when you first arrived, I swear you have too much of the rest of your family in you. But look at you now, alive. Even despite your previous faults, that Prime was willing to overlook. I cannot agree with Prime’s decisions to have kept you this long, useful as you are as a pet or butler or whatever you are nowadays. But if I were in your position, I’d take this opportunity.”

‘I bet you would.’ Tactus thought, but decided to say something else.

“Careful with those words. Wouldn’t want Prime to catch you talking like that, or he might just throw you in a cell right along with me.”

There was a brief silence as the Major stared at the Aviarian, before busting out into a deep laugh. Seemingly finding Tactus humorous. Tactus, in relief, found himself chuckling alongside him for a few moments before he felt it.

The familiar feeling that emanated from the two metal prongs on his collar that dug in. The flesh trapped between them completing the circuit as electricity rushed through the Aviarian’s body. The tiny cell filled with his howling screeches. His own screams were so loud they seemed to ring in his ears as the volts ran through his body. 

He twitched and convulsed off his bed, landing in a heap on the floor as the shock finally stopped. Panting as he recovered. Sure enough, the Major shook the little remote he had in his hands for Tactus’ collar.

“DO NOT TOY WITH ME. Or the next punishment won’t be a shock, or even us breaking your wings again. We were kind enough to let it heal last time, but If you toy with me again, I will remove your wings with my bare hands if need be! So, what say you? Shall I get the plasma saw or are you finally ready to be compliant?”

Tactus panted, grabbing the side of his bed. Lifting himself up to stand on one knee.

“I Tactus, of Hemo Invicta, Last Noble of Aviaria, will be victorious.” Blared the collar around his throat, not prompting the owl with another shock. As he was technically speaking the truth.

And the Major, in his arrogance, took Tactus’ words just as he hoped he would.

“Good. GOOD. Well then, Tactus, Future King of Aviaria. I must be off then. I’m going to interview your feline friend right now. I’m a busy man, but you take care, and don’t go anywhere!” The Major ordered with his same evil grin. Standing bolt upright from the slot he had been crouched beside.

“And enjoy a breakfast, fit for a King.”

He jeered. Shutting the food slot roughly.

Tactus, feeling oddly satisfied, picked up the thermos from the floor. Collapsing in a seated position on his ‘bed’. Popping open his breakfast thermos, seeing the familiar chunky gray sludge that was customary for Prime’s Horde clones to eat. A rudimentary nutrient paste, that tasted as good as it looked.

The Aviarian laughed as he stared at the foul substance. Bringing it up to drink and enjoying it despite it’s bitter flavor.

“Fit for a King, indeed.” Remarked the lone Aviarian, digging into his breakfast. He’d need the strength in the coming days after all. 

And The Major wouldn’t know what hit him. 


	8. In The Name of Science

“For the last time, no.”

“Catra come _on_.”

“I’m not drinking it Glimmer!” The Feline insisted, annoyed at the Queen’s assertions.

“Tactus wanted us to drink it, and since he’s on our side maybe we should, I don’t know, LISTEN TO OUR ALLIES?!” The exasperated Queen pointed out.

“We don’t even know if he’s on our side. For all we know the potion he gave us could be the mind control stuff!”

“Oh, so you were just fine drinking the potions he made before, but now, _now_ is different?”

Catra scoffed. Rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

“Damn right it is, I’m not injured right now, and he makes a good fucking steak and does the work for us, but that’s because he’s supposed to. At best, that stuff does what he said it would and makes me digest a single meal a little better. At worst, that stuff makes me do whatever Prime’s sick little mind can come up with. Think I’ll settle with a tummy ache, thank you. Wouldn’t be the first time Horde rations did it.”

Catra clarified, sliding her potion across the glass table to Glimmer.

Just before it could roll off the edge, Glimmer instinctively reached out to catch it. Just capturing the little glass vial as it teetered off the edge of the table. Glaring at Catra after.

“Fine, you wanna play that way? Well my bet is he’s on our side.” Glimmer retorted, quickly popping off the cork on vial.

Catra, realizing that she had just made a huge mistake in sending the potion Glimmer’s way, felt like the next few moments were going in slow motion.

Glimmer was bringing the vial to her lips, tilting her head back.

Catra brought her legs up to place her feet on the seat of her chair. She had to be quick to do this right.

The vial tilts back and the solution is moving towards the inside of Glimmer’s mouth.

Catra pounces forward across the table, arms outstretched to try and knock the vial back.

Most of the solution is already down Glimmer’s throat as the vial is knocked out of her hands, flinging off towards the ground.

Catra is momentarily ecstatic before she realizes that not only was she too late, but she is also still moving forward.

In a painful crash, the two collide. Glimmer flung backwards and out of her chair, with Catra landing in Glimmer’s lap. The Cat’s hands and feet catching on the ground to minimize the impact. Glimmer bursting into a coughing fit from the wind being knocked out of her by the sudden slam into the ground. Catra, horrified that Glimmer had actually drunk the potion grabbed onto the wheezing Monarch’s shoulders, shaking her violently. Sitting back into her lap as she did.

“WHY DID YOU DRINK IT!?” She shouted, the smaller woman furiously pushing her off.

“WHAT The-heughk, FUCK CATRA!?” Glimmer coughed out.

Catra flopped onto the ground behind her, quickly rolling to her hands and feet before springing up to stand.

“We’re not just fucked, but Etheria is fucked now! What is fucking wrong with you goddamn princesses!?”

Catra screamed, rubbing her face with her hands and her temples.

Glimmer coughed again and stood up.

“Look, we may be working together, and I was trusting you to learn to be a better person. So, step one is learning to trust other people!”

Catra snapped back at Glimmer

“Trusting other people doesn’t entail _THIS_. And trusting other people you shouldn’t is what keeps getting me into worse and worse situations!”

Catra hissed out. Lashing out in anger and scratching into the glass table.

“If I’m supposed to trust you, then why can’t you just trust me? Why can’t you trust me when I tell you not to trust that fucking Horde Prime stooge?!” Catra growled out.

“BECAUSE YOU’RE WRONG.” Glimmer exploded. Stopping after and looking at Catra, remembering a similar situation she had only a few days prior. But in that case, she was in Catra’s shoes. So wrong but so sure that she was doing the right thing. Maybe Glimmer was wrong again, or maybe she and Catra were just still more similar than she had considered.

Catra threw her hands up in anger, turning and walking off as Glimmer’s thoughts raced and her mood changed.

“Catra, Wait!” She shouted.

“No, it’s fine. I get it. You know fucking everything and I know nothing. Why the fuck would you listen to me? I’ve been a complete monster to you and just about everyone I’ve ever met. So, fuck me, right? For trying to take a second and look out for someone else.”

Catra crossed her arms, not even looking at Glimmer.

“Catra it’s n-”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t think I need your help. I never have needed anyone else’s help! If I’m just going to push everyone away maybe I should just do everyone a favor and stop inviting you people in.”

Glimmer, still swept up in the mistakes of her past and staring at the determined feline still wanted to press. The Monarch knew she had messed up so much in the past few days, and maybe it was some thought deep down in her head, but she hoped that if she could get through to Catra she might also be able to find a way to make it up to her friends back home and the rest of Etheria.

“Catra, please.” She pleaded again. But before she could get further with the Force Commander, the front door slid open in all its overbearing cacophony. Catra turning back to witness the visitors.

A group of 5 Horde Soldiers stepped in. 4 of the typical Guards with their electric staffs, with a peculiar looking clone in the front.

Glimmer noticed his face first, he looked more similar to Prime then some of the other clones she had seen, he had two eyes on his right and a single eye on his left. His left eye was covered by an odd-looking visor in a pentagonal shape.

White-blue straps wrapped around to hold it to his head. His head was shaved down into a singular thin mohawk at the top. He had a menacing sneer on his face, that almost seemed to be as if he was attempting to grin in a delightful manner.

He was wearing full Horde Armor, despite the other clones’ tendencies to wear the simple cloth dressing of a standard guard.

“Ah, finally I get to see our guests with my own eyes!” He declared, flashing his toothy grin.

Incredible. It had only been a few seconds and both Glimmer and Catra had already had enough of this man.

“Allow me to extend my warm welcome to you two, on behalf of Prime himself. And If I may interject my own thoughts, as a Major in his illustrious army, I am delighted to be working with the both of you today.”

He gave a small bow, extending a hand out for Glimmer to shake.

Glimmer, not wanting to even touch him, just stared blankly at The Major’s hand for a few moments.

“What are you doing?” Glimmer asked, trying to play dumb just to see what The Major would have to say.

The Major pursed his lips and stood back up to his full height.

“I suppose it shouldn’t be expected for alien species to share entirely similar customs. But that is neither here nor there.”

The Major waved his hands as if he were physically waving such thoughts away.

“No, I am here to delegate your tasks. We have two activities available for you, but we need only one of you to do each today. Physical Training and Interviewing. One will go to PT, the other shall be thoroughly interviewed, but given the nature of both activities it’s expected that you two shall be quite exhausted after, and we’d rather not drain you two. No, we can take all the time we need to ensure that the both of you give us all the info we require for your placement.”

The Major exposited, Catra finally stepping over to talk.

“How is Interviews supposed to be exhausting?” She queried, having already decided which one she’d rather do.

“Interviews may take several hours and vary on information needed based on your roles from Etheria. We have some details on the both of you as received through the memories of the clone formerly known as Hordak.”

Glimmer’s eyes widened as she had almost forgotten about Hordak in the slurry of information over the past 2 days.

“What happened to him anyways?” Catra questioned.

“Neither here nor there” The Major deflected before continuing.

“What activities would you prefer? The Physical Training which may involve a touch of combat simulations or a rigorous interv-”

“Interview.” Catra immediately stated, shocking Glimmer.

Glimmer expected that surely Catra would pick the combat sim, but Catra had ulterior motives.

Though Catra would never admit it, she was trying to protect Glimmer with her choice. She doubted Glimmer was trained with surviving interrogation, as Catra had received in the Horde. Not to mention that if Glimmer was under the effects of a mind control potion as she suspected, there was little chance she’d be able to avoid spilling the beans.

Catra, trying to portray the aloofness she always gave off, immediately tried to shut down both any potential thoughts Glimmer might have on the subject, but also her own.

“Hey, look on the Brightside Queenie, you could use the exercise.” Catra jeered, Glimmer taking a second to look down at herself before looking back up at Catra in indignant fury.

‘Good, get angry. That’ll help you concentrate.’ Catra thought.

The Major scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Well then. Force Captain Catra, you are to come with me and X-023 and X-024 here.” The Major motioned to the two clones to the right of him, who didn’t speak at all. Merely grunting in acknowledgement and nodding.

“While you, Queen Glimmer, will go with Z-031 and Z-027.”

The two clones on his left made similar grunts, but the one in front, Z-031, oddly spoke up to chime in.

“Yes. With us.”

The Major’s face drooped in irritation.

“He’s awfully chatty for a clone, so please don’t mind him.” He complained.

“But enough about insignificant petty little things, it’s time for us to evaluate your worth to our great army!”

The Major declared, spinning on the heel of his boot. Catra and Glimmer reluctantly following him out the door. Quickly flanked by the clones.

The Queen and The Feline looked eachother in the eyes in the near silent walk through the hall. Quickly reaching a fork.

“And here we must bid Adieu for now, but don’t cry. You’ll see eachother again when your activities are done.” The Major taunted. Cocking his head for Catra to follow him.

Catra looking to Glimmer one last time and mouthing

‘Good Luck’. Glimmer, despite her increasing annoyance and displeasure with Catra, worded back a

‘You too.’

As the two split away from eachother, with occasional glances back from both as they eventually lost sight of eachother.

* * *

Now, Glimmer, alone with just two guards, as far away from home as anyone she ever knew had been, felt completely alone. As alien and out of reach from anyone. She bit her lip, not wanting to get emotional. No Adora, No Bow, none of the rest of the Princesses, and with even Catra gone she was terrified.

She had to remain strong, but the stress from everything was getting to her. She just wanted to break down and sob somewhere and walking in silence alone with her thoughts wasn’t helping.

There wasn’t even anything visually stimulating for her to throw her attention towards. The inside of Prime’s Citadel seemed like it was marble and pristine, with metal walls and odd pillars and shapes. Everything was so sterile and white she felt as if she were in a medical ward. The air didn’t feel or smell right. It was too, nothing. No fragrance, no metal smells, it wasn’t like anything she had ever experienced before.

The Clones had turned down another corner, leading Glimmer on. Only to be met with the same near infinite gaze onwards of a hallway. Not a single difference in view or atmosphere, it felt like a maze of conformity.

The ship itself was so close to perfectly silent, that aside from their footsteps Glimmer could swear the loudest thing in the entire Citadel was the beat of her own heart. The pumping of her own blood going through her veins, she could almost hear the electrical signals of her neurons transmitting. It was maddening.

Finally, after what had paradoxically felt like hours of walking and no time at all, The Clones finally stopped infront of the most interesting view Glimmer had seen all day. A double-wide door.

“The Location we are taking you will require a specific means of transport.” One of the clones spoke, Glimmer had totally lost track of which one was which. But that wasn’t much of a concern right now, as she was mainly just thankful for something different.

The clone that hadn’t spoke, placed a hand on the door, which seemed to scan his hand for a second before it opened. The Room was oddly bare. The most notable thing about it was the bars that seemed to line the edges and a secondary set of doors opposite them.The clones stepped in, moving Glimmer with them.

It wasn’t a particularly large room, but the doors behind them closed sealing Glimmer and the two clones in.

“Is this like, an Elevatron? I think that’s what they’re called, right?” Glimmer asked, she hadn’t seen many in her life. Through a mix of never needing them and sheer rarity. But she remembered seeing a few during one of her visits to Dryl.

“‘Lift’ we believe is a more accurate term in this case.”

The clone said simply, pressing a few of the buttons on the panel in quick succession, but then pausing and quickly pressed the pound symbol. Cancelling the lift.

“Hey 27, I forgot, is the code _83_21-_4_8 or is it 8_4_21-_3_8”

“Prime Dammit 31!”

“What? It’s an honest question, I want to do this right. So, which is it?”

“It’s neither. 8321-48 is the Docking Bay, and 8421-38 is for Medical Wing! You’re looking for 8124-38. That’s where they put the new training deck!” The second clone answered.

Glimmer, was taking mental notes of what she had heard, trying her best to commit those numbers to memory for future use.

“Alright! Thank you. No need to be rude about it!”

“I wouldn’t be so rude about it if you just learned to remember these things without needing me to bail you out everytime you forget!” Z-027 chastised.

“Can we talk about this later? We have royalty here. Need I remind you?” Z-031 responded, motioning to Glimmer.

Glimmer was shocked that the clones were just chatting like normal people after all this time they had spent just being silent and menacing. But now that she was seeing them bicker, she felt a smile creep onto her face. They weren’t so different after all.

“Just get me to wherever it is you’re taking me.” Glimmer half-commanded. Z-031 just swallowing hard and punching in the correct combo on the number pad.

“Yes, your Majesty.” Both clones gripped the handrails so tightly that their knuckles started to glow a slight green under their white skin as the ‘lift’ seemingly took a few seconds to get going.

Glimmer, thinking they might have the right idea, grabbed onto the rail tightly as well, using both hands even. This proved to be the right choice as the ‘lift’ suddenly lurched _forward_. Then _left_, then in a sudden zig-zag, then up and down and all around.

The three in the ‘lift’ were jerked around and Glimmer was already feeling like she might be sick at the sudden jerky and fast movements. She wasn’t quite sure how fast they were going but she knew she hadn’t felt this sick since the morning after her 21st birthday back in Brightmoon.

Brought to a sudden stop, the lift had found itself in the location it needed to be. The Clones letting go of the bars and standing on each side of Glimmer yet again.

“With us.” Z-027 said, Glimmer regaining her bearing and her footing and following them out the now open metal door.

‘Surprise surprise, Prime has no sense of architecture or elegant design aside from repeating the same fucking 3 materials things.’

Glimmer fumed internally, as the outside of the lift seemed to be the exact same as the previous hallway, she was in.

Her head suddenly began to throb as if she had a headache brewing, but she silently hoped it’d dissipate before it became anything huge. The Clones leading Glimmer on until they approached yet another set of doors.

‘If this is nothing, I’m going to fucking scream’

The Monarch angsted, just having to walk from place to place instead of teleport was aggravating her.

‘This is why I don’t walk! There’s usually nothing interesting to fucking see! But this place, oh this place takes the FUCKING cake. This place is my own personal HELL.’

“We have arrived.” Divulged Z-031, opening the door with his palm and leading Glimmer in. Z-027 taking the rear and keeping behind Glimmer.

Finally, she had a change of scenery.

“Woah” The Queen uttered in quiet amazement.

The entrance seemed to be from a viewing station attached to the main training area. There were about a dozen computer terminals and a half dozen visors in an array above a large glass window.

Through the window was the sight of what seemed to be a massive empty square room, with measurements of at least 100 meters on each side. The entirely bare room was almost majestic in its emptiness, but taking her mind off that, she looked back at the consoles and terminals.

A clone seemed to be actively adjusting and working on each terminal, for what purposes it wasn’t entirely clear. Suddenly, one of the clones turned around to look at Glimmer. Eyeing her up and down before standing up.

“Greetings. Welcome to the Training Deck. Today we’re going to just simply test your physical capabilities when it comes to power readings. I’m sure you’ve noticed that any powers you may have are nullified?”

Glimmer was already not liking this. Showing her powers off to the enemy when they seemed to have so many terminals and electronics concerned her.

‘They’re going to try to study my magic? Maybe to use me as a weapon or just find out how they can fight me? Either way this isn’t good. I know Prime wants to use me to toy with the superweapon back on Etheria, so these tests have gotta be related to that.’

“Yes…I’m aware that my powers do not work here. Am I just going to have to use my physical strength alone?”

“No. For your sake we have a field that my brothers are maintaining right now that will allow you to use your powers within the confines of that room. We’re aware of your teleportation abilities, and the field is allowing short-range teleportation so long as it’s within the room.”

“You’re just going to what, study my power output?”

“Yes, Power Spikes, maybe put you through a few simulated stressors. Determine averages, kinetic force, or applications. Whatever is deemed necessary to study.”

The Scientist Clone stated, grabbing a tablet that was sitting next to him and reading something off it.

Glimmer looked back around the room, and sure enough there were plenty of dials and spectrometers, and other assorted measuring instruments for all sorts of potential stimuli. Not wanting to give them too much information on her magic, as it could prove tactically disadvantageous in the future, Glimmer attempted to stall for time.

“Wait, um..don’t you need to like…OH! Um, check my vitals and physical form before I do this! What if I’m not healthy enough to do any of this! I may not be able to do this at all if I’ve got mental blocks…oooh I feel a bad headache coming on.”

“Stop.” The clone commanded. Suddenly tapping on his tablet which projected an entire display of Glimmer’s body, and genetic structure. The model of her body showing an x-ray that seemed to cycle between her organs, muscles, neural and skeletal structure. A double helix of dna rotating besides the model with a readout of all her information.

“We already scanned your body when you were brought onboard. Our computers inform us of any and all life forms that are brought onboard through teleportation means or otherwise entire physiological and genetical structure. We don’t need a physical, as according to our sensors you seem to be a fairly healthy specimen. Even as somewhat removed genetically from the species your kind refers to as ‘First Ones’, your health is in good standings by their standards……maybe some future knee trouble down the road, but your genetics are fine.”

“But I-“

“If you’re experiencing any further issues, than they may have occurred since you’ve arrived. In which case I can do a second opinion here and now.” The Scientist remarked, pulling open a drawer and fishing out a visor similar to the one Glimmer had seen the Major from before wearing. The Scientist strapping it on his head with ease and flicking a switch on the side.

“Woah woah wait! I-“ Glimmer tried to interject, not consenting to a sudden check like this. She was hoping she could fake an injury and get out of this, but an actual machine that could check her would likely mean her entire gambit was screwed.

“Ah, I see the problem. By Prime’s Word that looks weird…your brain is showing a slight hyperactivity in your sensory regions…and you seem to have too much sodium in your body at the moment. That may be causing your headaches, and causing a touch of high blood pressure. I may need a word with your mandated assistant.”

The Scientist stated, tapping his chin.

“Yes, we’re going to need to get the Queen hydrated before she can be allowed to do some PT. You.” The Scientist pointed at Z-031.

“Yes,Sir?”

“Bring her some water. An entire flask’s worth to be safe.”

“Affirmative” Z-031 affirmed, marching back out the door on his new mission.

The Scientist pulled his chair out of it’s place, rolling it to Glimmer.

“Sit, it may be awhile.”

Feeling a tad petty, Glimmer looked at the chair and simply ignored it. Crossing her arms and waiting.

Her eyes wandering back around the room.

She wasn’t going to let it show, but at that moment she was terrified.

She knew the Horde already knew what her powers was, and they had somehow figured out the way to nullify them entirely. But now she’d have to come up with a way to throw off their readings on her power. She had received a boost after Scorpia had connected with the Black Garnet, but even she hadn’t gotten a chance to test out her new abilities yet.

Using her powers when she wasn’t sure of their intensity yet had her on edge, and with so many eyes. Glimmer was never one to care what most people think, but just the feeling of so many eyes on her and reading her biometrics, her entire body. All of this felt wrong.

All the fake niceness for the sake of just studying her like she was a plant, a lab-rat or a particularly interesting rock. But it wasn’t just that, any information they could gleam from such a study would be detrimental to her continued existence. Potentially to all of Etheria.

‘I can’t even imagine what the people of Etheria are going through now.’ Glimmer thought, though her mind turned back to Catra.

She almost wished Catra’s experience was half as stressful as her’s was about to be, but she silently chided herself for even thinking like that. She at the very least hoped that whatever was going on with Catra, it wasn’t worse than what she was doing. 

‘Hang in there Catra, and don’t give in. Etheria’s counting on us.’


	9. To Skin a Cat

Catra followed the Major, his clone goons at each of her sides. She stared at the back of his head in intense rage. Her head was throbbing, but her thoughts were firm in regards to the clone infront of her.

‘And I thought Hordak was a Major Asshole, but this guy is _literally _MAJOR ASSHOLE.’ The feline griped internally.

She couldn’t stand the way he walked, this uppity tight cadence. His boots seeming to stomp as if he had some kind of inferiority complex and he needed the whole world to know he was coming. The closely buzzed hair, head tilted up in the air as if to sneer or look down the length of his nose down at all he surveyed. The Armor he wore, which was too well polished. Telling Catra that he either hasn’t seen Combat in a long time or is enough of a tight-ass to worry about looking good while wearing something that’s supposed to be useful rather than pretty.

He was trying too hard to stand out despite being forced to fit in. A walking contradiction, taking pride in his genes from Prime yet also going out of his way to prance about as if he was the leader around here. The goons she could tolerate, as they were just creepy at worst. With their intense silent and glowing green eyes. But every moment in The Major’s presence felt like a moment too many.

“So, ‘Interviews’ is just a fancy word for Interrogation isn’t it?” Catra spoke up, trying to get a feel for what was going to happen. She knew how to resist interrogation from Horde Training. Though it wasn’t like she had much in the field practice against Etherian forces, so much as her own. She was dreading the interrogation somewhat, as these were Horde Prime’s forces. Though the architecture was laughable, he clearly had enough resources and technology to be a reasonable threat.

“Oh ho-ho! No. Interrogation implies we will need to use aggression to get the information we need. We're far too civilized for that! No, You work for us now. As your new boss, Prime expects you to give us as much information as we desire. But do not worry, the heightened position comes with a few…” The Major paused as he stood infront of the door he had been searching for. Opening the door with a quick hand scan. Finally finishing off his sentence as if he had actually set up an effective dramatic sting. Despite the door opening into just a simple room.

“Benefits…” The Major finished, leading Catra into the ‘Interview’ room. Which did look suspiciously like an interrogation room. A single metal table with two metal chairs sitting across from eachother. The walls were padded and along one wall was what was clearly a one-way mirror.

“Two things. One, this is clearly an interrogation room. And Two, what do you mean benefits?”

The Major laughed in Catra’s face. Placing a hand on the small of her back and forcing her forward into the room.

_“HEY” _She shouted, the two clones silently stepping in behind The Major. Shutting the 4 of them in. Catra beginning to feel very small and uncomfortable in this room.

“Take a seat. Force Captain Catra.” The Major commanded. Feeling her head suddenly begin to grow foggy, Catra suddenly found herself seated. Not seeming to even remember thinking about or even the feeling of the steel chair in her grip.

‘That..what just happened?’ She sat, perplexed.

The Major’s mouth twisted into his unnervingly toothy grin. Choosing not to sit down but rather lean on the back of the other chair in a standing position. He could tell just by the look on her face that the ‘Compliance Medication’ had already begun to take effect.

“As I understand it, despite practically leading Hordak’s horde in its final days, you never received an official promotion, is that correct?”

“Yes, Major.” Catra’s mouth spoke, as if by impulse alone. But Catra was screaming in her head, having already made some awful rookie mistakes off the bat.

‘FUCK. I’ve already broken rules 1 and 2. I just answered quickly and subserviently, when I should be trying to remain and act firm. Plus, I just answered a pretty clean ‘yes’, which they’ve almost certainly recorded and can reuse elsewhere! What the fuck is wrong with me?!’

“My, that must have been awful. Well, I believe it’s only fair that after such service Prime’s Horde gives you a fair promotion. Granted, you won’t suddenly become Second-In-Command, as we run a fairly tight crew compared to that abomination’s. But I’m sure you’d fit right in as a Major alongside myself. Why you’d be perfect in future combat with Etheria. I’m sure you are quite familiar with the area. But first we need you to fill out some paperwork for us, of course.”

In Sync, the door to the interrogation slid open, a quick handoff between two clones occurred. The papers in question being casually placed before the Horde Captain. Neatly held together by series of, bizarrely enough, paperclips.

Catra attempted to make a scornfully sardonic comment on the irony that even as a prisoner of war, she was sadly not free from bureaucracy and paperwork. But to her horror, the words were seemingly trapped in her throat. She wasn’t capable of opening her mouth, an odd tingling sensation enveloped her face that seemed to wash over her entire body. The slightest little twinge of her voice was caught in her diaphragm. Unable to move or speak, the Horde Captain sat in muted nerve-wracked terror.

‘Why can’t I move…why. WHY CAN’T I MOVE. WHY CAN’T I SPEAK!? WHAT’S HAPPENING!?’ She screamed inside her own mind, feeling as if she were having an out of body experience. It was like a waking sleep paralysis, or what she imagined a coma patient would feel. Her heart raced, beating so hard she felt as if it’d soon burst right out her chest.

‘Wait…no…_NO._’ Realized the Cat. Finally grasping the nightmarish situation she was in. She had tried to do everything right and yet she was still the one who found themselves mind controlled, and at the mercy of the interrogator.

The Major seemed to take notice of her predicament, noting the blank expression on her face. Suppressing his grin, he pushed the papers over to the feline with a carefree attitude.

“I need you to fill out all the required information. We’ll need to know everything about you so we can figure out how best to use you. You may take a moment to look over it first.”

The Major let his grin peek out a bit, casually reaching up to the visor he wore to subtly change the mode on it. Flicking the tiniest switch on the side all the way down to his favorite mode. The Heartbeat sensor. Sadist that he was, he enjoyed nothing more than seeing the moment someone’s heart raced when they tried to bluff, or when they felt fear.

The ‘compliance medication’ that Catra was currently under, wasn’t remarkably strong, and that was by the Major’s own design. Partially, at least. Full control of someone made them little more then a drone, which was useless on prisoners of war. They’d tell you whatever you wanted to hear, regardless of if it were a lie or not. Not to mention the materials to make such potions were not only rare, but the process overly time consuming for practical widespread use. No, The Major wanted them to be able to know what was happening. He wanted just enough sense in them, and semblance of a person left to not only feel fear, but to still be able to spill all their secrets truthfully.

Though her face showed no expression, The Major took delight in watching her heartbeat, imagining that her feelings would be akin to a dying rat in a bucket. Struggling to swim and looking up at whoever would pass, begging for life with its tiny little black eyes.

Catra’s gaze drifted down to the papers on the table. Her eyes seemed to move on their own, reading through without trying. As if her entire body was on auto-pilot with her taking a backseat. Her hands working to answer the questions before she could even comprehend them.

‘My name, my rank, and…my worst fears? My hopes and desires!? Wait…I’m already filling this out. No. NO. PLEASE GOD NO. They’re going to find out _everything_ about me! Why can’t I stop myself!?!’

She saw herself write, and write, and write, and write. Going through page after page describing practically her entire life story. First crush, recent failures, favorite foods, sexual orientation, nothing was off limits. With each letter Catra could feel herself dying inside.

This was her personal hell, watching herself give up everything she had ever hidden or buried inside herself opened up onto the paperwork infront of her for some uncaring prick to take for the sole purpose of future manipulation.

She was giving up everything and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. As she filled page after page, Catra’s thoughts turned to Glimmer.

‘If they’re doing _this_ to me. What the fuck are they doing to you?’

* * *

Stepping onto the cold floor of the training room. Glimmer took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare herself for this. Her headache had subsided significantly after the water she had drank. But she had run out of excuses to use, the prying eyes of the scientist’s visor had deemed her suitable enough for the physical training.

“We’re going to start with a simple calibrations test of your photokinetic bursts.” The Scientist’s voice came from the many intercoms.

“My What?”

Glimmer felt uncomfortable, looking up and realizing she couldn’t actually see them in their room, or for that matter anything else. As far as she could see it was a white expanse.

“Your file says you are capable of producing beams of light that are capable of destruction. These are the photokinetic powers, please demonstrate them.”

“Uh…ok?”

“Ready yourself and prepare for some targets to pop up, try to hit them at center mass.”

The Scientist explained, Glimmer looking around, not seeing anything still.

“Where are they going to come from?”

“Everywhere.”

With that Glimmer saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. Whipping her head to her right, she saw it. A green humanoid shape, much like the holograms she had seen in the Whispering Woods. The figure’s eyeless gaze seemed to peer through Glimmer before gliding towards her at immense speed.

Instinctively, she attacked it, bringing her hands together and firing a beam of light. Instantly causing the hologram to disappear on contact.

Inside the monitoring room, a whole slew of machinery lit up the moment she made contact. Almost as lit up, were the Scientist’s eyes as the readings came in.

“Everyone got that?” he called out, looking around the room. Clones nodding back and forth as the data spilled out of every console and terminal. Another clone scientist coming up to him with a tablet, reading off the data.

“How’d that look?”

“Photokinetic is right, but there wasn’t a whole lot of force to that one. Just a little above 10 PSI.”

“10 PSI? As in One Zero? I _sneeze_ harder than that. You sure that readout is correct?”

“Positive, Sir. The rest of the data seems to corroborate. We did get some interesting light-up in the bio-scans that might imply that the Etherian magic is similar to previously examined species.”

“Let me see that.” The Head Scientist responds, plucking the tablet out of the Subordinate Scientist hands.

“Would’ja look at that. Yeah, lightups in the neural pathways in the same spots and part of the brain, and even increased blood flow to the liver for extra glucose production. Hmm, I wonder if it’s just this specimen though. We’ll need more testing with this one first.”

The Head Scientist passed the tablet back. Leaning over to press the button on the intercom. Finally talking to the Queen that had been waiting in uncomfortable silence for the past minute.

“We’ve got the data from that first blast, mind upping the force? Just want to make sure the calibrations on the readouts is correct.”

With reluctance, Glimmer nodded.

“I can do that.” She says, looking down at her hands in solemn silence. She hated this entire situation. Here she was giving them information when who knows what they were doing to Etheria. Were her friends even still alive? Etheria could be burning right now and her subjects enslaved, and here she was taking part in these stupid tests!

‘I can undersell the performance for a while, but restraining the force may be difficult with prolonged beams…If I pretend that I can only do short small bursts I might have a chance to skew the results.’

Another hologram appeared, rushing forward. Casually, Glimmer raised her hands and shot a focused burst into its chest as quickly as she would flick a switch.

Just as they had before, a series of lights went off in the monitor room as more info streamed in. The Head Scientist spoke to his Subordinate on the matter.

“That blast was 150 PSI. Still in the lows for concussive force, that’d be like if I got slapped by a reject clone. A very weak reject clone. Still, S-243. You were right in your previous assessment on the similarities. I’m seeing light-ups in the brain, neural pathways, and yes even the Liver that match most other species…My that is a lot of glucose I’m seeing…I wonder just how sweet this Queen’s diet must’ve been back home. Wait, take a look at this.”

The Head Scientist passed the tablet back, S-243 scrolling through the data.

“Is this…?”

“Traces of an energy link, this is a non-naturally occurring source of magic. She isn’t running solely off the Glucose as a magical store like most species! In fact, I think the glucose is only supplementing her magical use. Therefore, she’d need a secondary, or I suppose in this case, a primary power source. My bet is that the runestones the abomination’s memory detailed act as conduits for the heart of Etheria. Like a charging base for the magic users that have developed a bond to them.”

“Yes. I’ve seen those memories too. S-083 is very enthusiastic about them, they’ve been a great boost to his confidence. They all but prove his theory of a biological link, or outright specific blood relation improving chances for magical use. Especially the more remarkable magic user’s we’ve experimented on.”

“If this is an example of this world’s remarkable magic users, forgive me if I’m not particularly excited.” There was a pregnant pause before the Subordinate Scientist spoke.

“You think she’s holding back?”

The Head Scientist squinted in consideration, leaning back over to the microphone and pressing the button.

“We’ll take that as calibrating for now. Summon your staff. Time for the real physical training. We want to see what you’re truly capable of. We’re going to be adjusting the targets to take a bit more of a beating. So, you’re going to have to likely hit them multiple times, but just based on what we’ve seen that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you. Also, bear in mind these are combative holograms. They won’t go down so easy.”

Glimmer swallowed hard.

‘Fuck, I might actually have to try here.’

“How combative we talking?”

“Just enough to give some incentive, expect slow movements and some uncomfortable zaps.” The Head Scientist responded. The Subordinate was skeptical of his decision.

“Sir, with all due respect. Should we really have her fight the more combative sims already? Wouldn’t Prime disapprove? You know how he is about keeping Prisoner’s intact at least up until he’s done conquering!”

The Head Scientist waved his hand, as if he were physically dispelling such fears.

“Prime will only disapprove if we seriously injure her, or worse kill her. If she dies, every single one of us from our batch would be put to death, and that’s an outcome I am very much not looking to have occur. We’ll leave enough of her intact for the usual Post-Conquering dissection. Even if she does get injured, you know damn well that her personal attendant is expected to pick up the slack and keep them intact. Even if we run them ragged during the day.”

“Right sir. Forgive my impudence.” The Subordinate apologized, making a small bow.

“Do not bow to me, and do not apologize. Though other’s may be bound to a more rigid system, we are beings of science! It is our purpose to question our surroundings and pick them apart. Downright our moral duty to the Empire, that we dissect and prod to figure out how things tick. Not for the sake of not just us, but our entire way of life! Isn’t that right brothers?” The Head scientist called to the rest of the room. His question being met with a resounding.

“Here here!”

The Subordinate smiled at the sudden wave of support.

“Thank you, sir.”

The Head Scientist gave a small approving nod, turning his head to talk to the Queen again through the intercom. Having briefly forgotten her existence after being swept up in his jingoism.

“Forgive the wait, we’re still setting up the course. But in the meantime, feel free to summon your weapon.” The Head Scientist notified Glimmer, turning to face the rest of his crew and motioning with a finger in a circular motion above his head. As if to say, ‘roll out’ or ‘double time!’. All the scientist getting back on their respective machines and terminals, a few messing with inputs into the testing room’s computer.

"Take your time.” Glimmer called back. Summoning her weapon, her familiar staff, which had seen her through many battles already. The sight of it reminder her of her mother, and the birthright passed down to her. The burden to stand here and try to protect all the people back home, despite so many walls in her way.

‘Hope you’re proud of me mom, you too dad…I wonder what you two would do, fight? Give In? Am I doing this right? Am I doing _any_ of this right?’

The floor pulsed under her, massive holograms appearing in the massive training room. Slowly forming buildings and debris to look like an actual battlefield. A few false huts appearing infront of her and plenty of crates and other miscellaneous to take cover behind.

Holograms of individuals began to appear in vague humanoid shapes. Green bodies, and blue weapons. Within seconds there were sudden sparks of light that shot off from their artificial weapons. Glimmer leaping behind the cover that had spawned infront of her. Cursing softly as she did.

Seeing all these things appear reminded her of her younger self, and how she had once seen holograms and thought them to be ghosts. She was terrified, but now she was furious. She was tired of feeling useless and not being able to do anything, the Horde was going to take the information from her anyways. She might as well relieve some stress while she was here.

A few more bolts of electricity fired down around her. Hitting the floor of the facility below as she sat behind cover. Pinned down, she took a deep breath. Concentrating on what she remembered was directly behind her.

Few enemies, at least 2 on the second floor of the building behind her. Three or so on the ground moving in. Though she couldn’t tell where they were, she knew that with the Horde’s aggressive tactics they’d try to flank her while the two up top would keep raining fire on her. Outside of that, the rest of them were unknowns.

Gripping her staff tightly in her hands, she decided the best course of action was to teleport. Feeling a sudden rush of wind around her and a bright light, she was suddenly exactly where she wanted to be. Appearing behind the two in the building’s second floor. Their holographic backs were turned, but the flash of light and sound of her teleport caught their attention. The Holograms twisted to look back ot her.

The moment Glimmer’s eyes locked onto them, she noticed something about them. They weren’t the simpler holograms she had seen before. They were designed to look like Horde Soldiers, but not just any Horde Soldiers. Proper Prime foot soldiers, clones in Prime’s own image.

Just seeing the shape of them Glimmer felt hate seething from her very core. In that instant, Glimmer had lost any sense of capability to hold herself back.

It didn’t matter that they were never alive.

They needed to die.

Rushing forward and between them. She set her eyes on the one to her left, sweeping the left holograms legs at the knee joint. In her rage, swinging with enough force to cause the hologram to immediately dissipate. The swing going through its leg. Carrying that swing through, in the same swift motion she whipped around to plow the staff through the head of the second hologram. Forcing it to dissipate on contact, cleaving straight through where the chest had been.

With the sudden disappearance of the previous holograms, the other enemies below took quick notice. Sending a hail of blaster bolts in Glimmer’s direction. She wanted to get this over with. Teleporting in another flash directly to the left of all the fighters. Catching them off guard.

‘Lucky for me.’ Glimmer thought, noticing that they were all lined up like billiard balls or dominoes for her. Having moved to such a specific pattern for rapid firing up at Glimmer’s previous position. Catching them in her new line of fire, Glimmer brought her two hands together and fired a long stream of energy, quickly taking out the four enemies that were directly infront of her. The photokinetic energy beam dissipating them on contact. It was like a knife through warm butter.

Suddenly a sharp jolt of pain went through Glimmer’s body. As if she had been stung by a bee that was on fire. 

“FUCK” she shouted in pain, glancing back and seeing her new attacker. One of the holograms had been hiding behind the false rock she had taken cover behind at the start. In anger, she gripped her staff like a spear, pulling it back and suddenly teleporting again. Appearing just behind the hologram that had attacked her. With a swift plunge forward, she slammed the rounded and sharpened end of her staff through the back of the hologram infront of her. Causing it to dissipate.

Panting from the exertion, and still somewhat in pain from being shot Glimmer raised her voice.

"THAT ALL? Any more holograms?” The Queen screamed, rage flowing through her voice. But almost as soon as the rage had exited her body, she felt a sweeping sense of dread. Terrified that she might’ve overdone it, considering she was supposed to be holding back.

Meanwhile, inside the monitoring room the Scientists sat in total shock. The Head Scientist sat totally rigid. S-243, his Subordinate came over with the pad yet again.

“Only 45 seconds.” The Head Scientist remarked, impressed.

“Wait till you see these numbers.” The Subordinate boasted, holding the tablet for him.

“By Prime’s word…She averaged out at 2200 PSI per SWING!? And her prolonged beam averaged at 400 PSI despite only being about 3 inches in diameter? That plus it being used as a constant beam meant those holograms received a little over 2800 PSI per _second_. Constant pressure! It’s incredible, it’s…”

“Remarkable, even?” The Subordinate smirked, The Head Scientist scoffed and shot back a glare.

“Maybe.” He responds, leaning over to the intercom once more. His words worsening the growing dread in Glimmer’s heart.

“End of Wave 1. Beginning Wave 2 in 15 Seconds. Expect a greater challenge.”

In disbelief, Glimmer steeled her nerves, gripping tight onto her staff and scanning around. She was about to be forced to go through an endurance gauntlet of holograms!

For how long? Until the day ended? Until they were satisfied? Until she dropped of exhaustion?

No, she shouldn’t focus on that. She had to remain calm. She had to avoid giving them too much, even if she may have already given more then she’d like.

But most of all she had to survive.

* * *

Several hours later, in the interviewing room. The Major grinned, reading through the now finished and completely filled out documents. Like a teenager reading through an illicit magazine.

“What a fascinating life you’ve lived. Force Captain Catra. Or should I say Major Catra Meowmeow?” The Major cackled.

Catra, was sitting across from him in the chair. Visually the same, but mentally dead. Her shame at the past few hours of spilling every secret about herself and Etheria would have left her mute, even were she capable of talking on her own at this point.

“Forgive my amusement. I suppose I shouldn’t talk considering my lack of experience with names. But aside from that, my my my are we so much alike~! That ploy with sending Entrapta to Beast Island and then claiming she betrayed that abomination? Brilliant. Marvelous, Superb. You practically swept the General’s position out from under Hordak and convinced him to fight on the frontlines! And the constant manipulation! A tale of a poor sad little girl who wanted nothing but love and adoration from the people around her, yet all she can do is hiss and scratch at them. But at the end of the day you’re just a little feral kitten.” He monologued to the motionless Catra.

‘I will kill you.’ Catra’s mind seemed to repeat on loop. It was one thing for someone she knew or thought she could trust to treat her like this. But for this man, walking as arrogant and proud as he was, to have so unjustly stolen her every thought from her. She could not let that stand.

Rather than wallowing in the self-pity that the Major thought she could be swept within, she focused herself on the one thing that would make her happy. The first chance she could get to tear this man apart piece by piece.

Loving to hear himself talk, the Major prattled on.

“By Prime I swear I could read this for _hours_. It’s just so delectably entertaining. And you know what? I think I will.” The Major chortled to himself, casually flicking off the paper clip that held the papers together at Catra. Bouncing off the tip of her nose and landing in her lap.

‘I _will_ kill you’

“Well, I’m done with you today. Maybe another time? This was such fun.” The Major stands up.

‘I will KILL you’

“It feels like I’ve really gotten to know you, as if you were an old friend!” He bragged, sauntering past her towards the door, standing behind her.

‘I will fucking KILL you.’

“But I have quite a good book to curl up with tonight.” The Major waved the papers yet again. Reaching the door.

“I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU” echoed the voice of Catra in the room. Finally breaking through the potion’s power through sheer will and anger, if only for a moment. Still entirely unable to move and no longer able to speak, just as she had been before. The two guards raised their weapons when she had spoke. The Major standing entirely still.

If his face could grow any whiter was a mystery, but he quickly feigned amusement. Laughing even.

“My? You were able to say even that? Even through the dosage you received? You remain an impressive soul, Major Catra.” The Major leaned in, placing a hand on Catra’s shoulder, whispering into her ear.

“Don’t you worry, The Horde will _adore_ you. Even if no one else will.” Letting his hand drift from her shoulder and the tip of his finger lightly tracing her neck as he turned back away to exit the door.

“See that she makes it back to her room.” He ordered the guards nonchalantly.

“Oh, and Major Catra? First order is to not speak a word of this to your companion. You are to go to sleep tonight without telling a soul of this, effective immediately. Hate to spoil the surprise for her Majesty.”

The Major left, leaving Catra to be taken care of by the two guards. The both of them taking her from under the shoulders and lifting her up. The Cat remained almost motionless, as she still had very minimal control of her body. Even despite her previous capability to break through.

A glitter caught her eye and she found herself just barely capable of grabbing onto the paperclip that the Major had thrown to her. Subtly, she kept it in a closed fist. Walking alongside the Guards back to her room.

‘This isn’t over.’ Her will resonated, even within the confines of so many layers of steel. 


	10. Cat Got Your Tongue?

“Oy, Tacitus.” The Guard called out, clanking his staff against the bars on the cell. Waking the bird in question and causing an uncomfortable reverberation to echo through the confined space. He winced, covering his earholes.

His ancestors had gifted him with remarkable hearing. Supposedly they were able to locate prey in pitch darkness from across entire mountain ranges. In Tactus’ case, it had proved a detriment over the past few years in captivity, with the guards frequently abusing his supposed ‘gift’.

But as his mind remembered where he was, annoyance seeped into his thoughts. His eyes focused on the Guard, and despite him looking just the same as the rest, Tactus knew he was the new guy. He had only been here a month, but seeming to watch The Major’s actions made him think that he could act the same.

Tactus hated the both of them, but he at least felt an almost fun rivalry of hatred with the Major. Every day he saw the Major, the Major would do something so tackily evil in an attempt to break him, it was almost laughable. He longed for the day he’d be able to tear him to shreds, even if Tactus never considered himself the most violent of individuals. At least compared to the rest of his family.

But this Guard struck him differently, he didn’t act out of genuine hate. His actions reminded him of a child parroting whatever his mother would say, without fully grasping the words. He _almost_ pitied the clone, to be so thoroughly indoctrinated as to hate without meaning.

“COME ON. GET UP TACITUS”. The Guard smacked the steel bars once more, forcing Tactus to flinch.

_Almost._

“My name is _Tactus_. Not _Tacitus_.” He clarified.

The Guard rolled his eyes.

“Whatever ya fucking Turkey. Enough nap time, it’s 1300 hours. Time for you to get back to work for the prisoners.”

Tactus scoffed. Getting up and twisting his head it’s full range of motion, a whole 270 degrees, and 1 degree more just to pop his neck.

“Don’t you mean _guests_?” Tactus snarked, the Guard raising his staff and smacking the gate again. Tactus felt his beak instinctively click as a warning. He quickly gripped it shut with his hand, not wanting to seem like he was threatening him.

“Ow. I was merely reminding you to be careful with your word choice. You never know who could be behind you.” Tactus exposited, standing up and dusting himself off.

This only enraged the Guard.

"And It seems I need to remind you of your place, I may not have your remote, bird. But I have my staff, and Prime help me I will teach you some resp-“

“The fuck are you doing!?” bellowed out a voice. Tactus could hear the clacking of their boots and by their pace Tactus could tell it was the one guard he actually somewhat liked.

He had been Tactus' guard for years now, an older clone that’d seen some combat and proved themselves effective in combat. But they had received a fairly hefty blow to their knee which made marching difficult. Horde Prime, though not the most fond of old damaged clones, had offered the clone in particular a place as a guard for a certain new prisoner. _Well_, the prisoner had at least been new at the time. 

With the alternative being ‘discarding’, the old clone accepted. Often, Tactus had found the Older Guard took pity on him or otherwise prevented some of the newer stock from going too rough on him. The rotation of guards was always a fun time for Tactus, as he enjoyed this guard's company over others.

Call it stockholm syndrome, but if there was even one of these fascists Tactus thought was worthwhile, it might’ve been this one. He had stuck with him since Tactus’ time as one of the ‘honored guests’, and yet their interactions hadn’t changed much since.

“Quit bangin’ on that cell ya fuckin’ bag of genetic slop!” The Old Guard cried, hobbling over with a small bag in tow.

“I-I’m just teaching him some r-respect!”

The Old Guard smacked the Young Guard on the top of his head with his open palm.

“He’s no good to us _fucking deaf_ you worthless little lump of primordial goddamn _OOZE_” 

The Old Guard pushed the Young Guard away, turning to Tactus in the cell.

“You ok, kid?”

“I’ve been better.” Tactus glanced down and noticed the guard held a familiar rectangular cooler.

“They sent you out to get the potions this time?”

“I volunteered. Need to keep the old leg moving, ya know?”

“I get that. Just wanted to do it myself, be thorough about the potion choice for them.” Tactus half-truthed. He mainly wanted to do the walk to stretch his legs, all the time in the cell had left him with a bit of atrophy.

Even just walking around the day before for the ‘guests’ had been a bit much. Maybe he needed to grab himself some immunoboosters while he was in the medical wing, considering he was interacting with an entirely new species. He figured most diseases wouldn’t be transmittable but considering their biological similarities he didn’t want to take chances.

“Next time kid.” The Old Guard said with a shrug. Opening the door for Tactus. The Young Guard giving Tactus a glare, with Tactus suppressing the tiniest smile at his misfortune.

“Now come on, you got a job to do.” The Old Guard reminded, giving Tactus the cooler to carry. Leading him back to the ‘guest’ room.

* * *

Alone in the room again, with the metal door closing behind him. Tactus sighed in relief. He had some space to walk around in at least. But firstly, he had to make sure everything necessary was taken care of.

Setting the cooler down on the dining table. Popping it open to take stock of the potions.

1 Warrior’s Rest, 1 Vial of Burn Curative, 2 Vials of Moon’s Gaze and 1 Vial of Writer’s Lament.

‘Good. They’ll need those.’

Tactus thought, suddenly noticing something glinting on the floor. Bending down to pick it up, Tactus recognized the tiny little vial from that morning. It was the vial of the Neutralizing potion for the ‘Compliance’ Potion they had taken.

Tactus was happy to see it again, empty. A terrible thought entered his mind and he double checked the floor to make sure it hadn’t simply been left to roll and spill on the floor. Thankfully, the spot was dry.

Figuring it must have rolled off the table. Tactus carefully placed it down.

‘Good, hate for one of them to have lost the chance to drink it simply because they dropped it.’ He thought. The neutralizing potion was capable of keeping them resistant specifically to ‘Compliance’ for up to a week. It was strong and had side-effects, but it was very much worth it.

Tactus offhandedly worried what the original creator of ‘Compliance’ would have done had they known what the Horde would have used it for. It was originally meant to make battlefield medical work easier or to ease struggling patients without affecting the rest of their body too much.

Using it for this purpose made Tactus sick to his stomach, but he was thankful that they had been saved by his quick and brilliant plan for intervention. That is up until the silent owl noticed what was sitting next to the cooler he had placed on the table moments prior.

The other neutralizing potion sat on the table, completely untouched and undrunk.

Tactus wanted to scream. He wanted to shatter the glass, he wanted to tear up the couch.

“FU-HGHK” Tactus was brought to his knees by a sudden electrical shock through his body. His collar punishing him for aggression and for attempting to curse.

Panting, Tactus tried to calm down, but with great difficulty. He was furious, he was sticking his neck out for them and one of them hadn’t even bothered to drink it! They should’ve known he can’t say what he wants to say right now! Did he have to emphasize harder on what it was supposed to be?

But that didn’t matter now. The whole operation could have been botched because they weren’t able to take the hint. The one solid chance he’s had in years to get out might be gone. How long would he have to wait next?

And Glimmer and Catra! Catra he didn’t care too much for, but Glimmer seemed so nice!

‘Get ahold of yourself Tactus. Look at the situation!’ He told himself, looking back at the vials. He could tell that at least one of them had bothered to drink the potions at least. Which means at least one of them had a temporary immunity to ‘Compliance’.

‘But which one? Which one drank it? Okay it was over here by this chair, which I think is the one Glimmer sat on…let’s see, wider indentation on the seat. Bit of syrup stuck to the table, yep. Glimmer. Ok. The vial fell near this spot so it must’ve been Glimmer, right?’

Tactus reasoned out, trying to piece it together, but doubt quickly settled back in.

‘But what if Glimmer didn’t drink it? Thought the wink was to tell her that she wasn’t supposed to drink it? Fuck what if Catra drank the potion instead? Wait why would she drink it? Maybe to spite Glimmer? She seems kinda spiteful. Crap Crap CRAP.’

Tactus looked to the door.

‘Where did each of them go? If Glimmer declined the Nullifier, and went to Interviews then her home might be done for, even if we do get out of here. If she went to PT instead then she might’ve ended up giving up all her combat info.’

Tactus began nervously scratching at his feathers.

‘Crap. Crap. CRAP.’

The Steel doors behind him opened, and Tactus quickly and instinctually hid the vial of nullifier in his mouth, tucking it under his tongue before anyone at the door possibly could have known what was happening.

But instead of the sound of heavy boots that Tactus expected, he heard the patter of bare feet on the floor. 

‘God, it’s this fucking bird again’ Catra thought as she walked in.

Tactus quickly gave her a bow. Immediately shifting to the subservient façade he put on around them.

“Force Captain Catra, how are you today? I had just arrived and was planning on making some dinner for the two of you.”

‘Shut the fuck up, you feathery bitch.’ The silent feline internally replied.

‘I know it was you who set me up like this!’

In the time since she had left the Interrogation room, Catra had been stewing over how she got into this state and came to one conclusion. The food. The food was poisoned with mind control solution or something, maybe it was entirely fake! Why else would there suddenly be steak and eggs on this awful ship?

And that bird. He was in on it. He made the food, he had to know. He’s been playing Glimmer this entire time, and maybe he couldn’t hide it in the food, or maybe the weird vial she drank was stage 2. Or maybe he was just being thorough. It didn’t matter, all that she knew was this bird had caused her torment.

And he needed to die.

‘You absolute magnanimous prick… You have the gall to act nice now?’ Catra’s mind raced and cursed, but her eyes remained hollow as she marched to her room.

Tactus quickly noticed her silence.

“No quippy remarks? Vacant expression…oh my…I see…” Tactus says, keeping up with Catra’s steady pace to her room.

He was starting to piece it together.

“You didn’t take the Digestion Supplement, did you?” Tactus asks, looking intently at Catra’s face.

‘I will beat the Major to death _with_ you’

“You can’t speak at all can you?” Tactus narrows his eyes, looking Catra up and down. Bobbing his head just as he had before. Still keeping pace with her.

Catra remained physically silent, even if her mind kept going.

He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that at least it wasn’t Glimmer who had avoided the Nullifier. But still, he had to cure Catra now. Maybe she’d be a little more cooperative after he did. Hopefully she’d understand they need to work together now more than ever.

Catra however, thought differently.

‘I will fucking deepfry you, the moment I get free.’

“Perhaps you’ll follow orders. Halt.” Tactus commands, but Catra continues to walk. She was still under orders from The Major to go to sleep, which would have explained her current destination. The orders superseded Tactus, and therefore he could do nothing. Still, he tried again.

“Halt! Stop!” Tactus commanded once more, but Catra kept moving. She would’ve almost felt smug were she the one in control of her own movement.

“Ok…desperate times call for desperate measures. If there’s any of you left in there, I ask that you forgive me. For multiple reasons.”

Tactus let Catra pass him in the hallway. Suddenly grabbing her by the scruff of the neck. Catra’s entire body slowly going limp.

‘I cannot believe that worked.’ Tactus reflected to himself.

‘WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING!?’ the Feline raged, horrified at the sight of her entire body collapsing like a poorly made tent. She didn’t even know she could still do that! She hadn’t done this since she was a child.

Tactus, not trying to hurt her, went down with her to the floor. There was only so much kindness and gingerness that he could provide, considering his hands were still big, rough, and taloned. Even with a great deal of care, this was still remarkably uncomfortable for Catra, and even somewhat painful where the tips of his talons dug into her neck.

‘Ow. OW. OW.’

Tactus sat cross legged, and tried to pull Catra into a lying position in his lap, just as one would do to an unruly child to give them medicine.

“I want to reiterate that I am very sorry about this whole situation, I don’t even need to imagine what this must be like for you. Believe me, I know.” Tactus tries to soothe, tilting Catra’s head back with his free hand, the other still firmly grasping her scruff.

Deftly, Tactus reached up and pulled the vial out of his mouth. To Catra’s utter horror.

‘Oh, this is so fucked up on many levels. I don’t even know what I’m angrier at right now.’

Tactus bit the cork off, looking at the vial then looking back at Catra’s face. It was emotionless, but he could tell that if she was there, this must be awful. His face scrunched up in embarrassment and disgust with himself.

“Look…I know that wasn’t great, but It’s the most sanitary place I could’ve hidden it, and I cannot overemphasize how sorry I am about literally all of this.”

He says, tilting the vial to Catra’s lips.

‘NO NO NO NO NO’

The liquid poured into Catra’s mouth, and Tactus, wanting to be thorough, pinched Catra’s nose shut for a few seconds.

Hating herself the entire time, Catra swallowed it down, and just as she finished Tactus let go.

“If it makes you feel any better, I probably hated that almost as much as you did.” Tactus affirms, letting go of Catra’s scruff.

The very disgusted Catra was mortified. Even more so when she felt her body continue to move on its own. Tactus’ eyes widening at the sight.

“OH COME ON!” He shouted in exasperation.

‘Ok, now I’m just confused. What the fuck was that supposed to accomplish!? Was he trying to suppress me entirely? What’s the plan here!? God, was he just fulfilling some weird fucking kink!? Oh, I feel gross, I just want to throw up!’ Catra’s mind babbled.

Tactus was wracking his brain, trying to figure out why it didn’t work.

‘Ok, the ‘Compliance’ potion was already taken over in her system…the Nullifier has barely entered her body, so I need it to distribute through faster…need a quick reaction…’

“OH” Tactus spoke allowed when he had figured it out, reacting in the ecstaticity he only ever received when he had a patient back in the day.

“I need to raise your heartrate!” Tactus shouted, rushing over to Catra and picking her up again, carrying her in his arms to the Kitchen.

'I just want to sleep now, dammit. I’m too sad and gross to be doing this now.’ A very defeated feline thought. It had been a long day for her full of very confusing and agitating moments. She had argued with Glimmer, woke up to find she had apparently willingly opened her heart and soul up to a former enemy, opened up her heart and soul to a current enemy unwillingly, came back to her room, and was roughly handled by this very weird owlman.

‘Can my day get any worse?’ She thought, Tactus unintentionally about to prove her right.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to move on your own again in just a sec. Now, I don’t have any adrenaline or anything like that right now, or any metabolizing agents. _But_, I think I figured out how to force the reaction!”

He brought her to the kitchen sink, lifting a leg up to prop her weight on so he wouldn’t hurt her, as he used his now free hand to turn on the sink and grab a towel. Wetting the towel thoroughly, he flopped the entire thing on her face. Landing in a comically wet smack.

‘…yep. That’s how it can get worse…’ Catra thought, feeling herself suddenly unable to breathe. Though, she remained remarkably calm about it. 

‘I’m going to die here, suffocating under a fucking rag in the middle of GODDAMN SPACE.’ She angsted, Tactus waited patiently.

He just needed her blood pressure to rise or her heartbeat to speed up, he didn’t have a whole lot of materials on him, and this was the best idea he had. Waterboarding with a single wet rag. Her heart rate would race after she wasn’t able to breathe and panic would set in, and then the potion would run it’s way through her body quicker.

Letting go of the scruff of her neck, he moved to grip her shoulder’s tightly instead. He needed to see the moment she began to struggle to know it had worked.

Under the effects of the potion, she wouldn’t move and would simply suffocate. But, Tactus knew she still had self-preservationary instincts that’d activate when she was in danger. Her body would fill with adrenaline, pumping her blood faster, the potion would react, and she’d regain control of her body again.

Tactus, not wanting her to suffer more than necessary, wanted to pull the wet rag off the moment she saw even the faintest hint of a struggle, as by that point she’d be in control again. But for now, he’d wait for the inevitable.

And Sure enough, her heartbeat began to raise.

‘No. NO! I’M NOT FUCKING DYING HERE TO SOME CRAZY OWL.’

Tactus felt Catra’s muscles flex, and he could see her head begin to move. Quickly he let go and pulled the rag off just as she began to scream and thrash.

“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” She cried out, Tactus quickly backing away.

“Easy, EASY!” He shouted back, remembering faintly why ‘Compliance’ was made in the first place. To prevent the occasion where a patient was facing such an extreme fight-or-flight response while stressed, they’d actively fight their doctor or medic.

The Feline pounced onto him, landing her full weight ontop of him with ease and slamming the hollow boned bird to the ground. Despite the Aviarian’s large stature, he barely weighed anything. Clocking out at just above 45 pounds. So, she overpowered him with ease.

Her hands wrapped around his throat from underneath the collar.

“I HAVE GROSSLY MISCALCULATED!” Tactus exclaimed as she began to choke him. He landed hard on his back, and having been pounced on by someone nearly 4 times his weight was painful. He was sure he had likely bruised something at bare minimum.

Catra was breathing hard, leaning in close to the pinned Owl’s face.

“Not so fucking tough or suave are ya now?! You fucking poison me, then you line me up for that fucking Major to steal every bit of info from me, then you do, what? Try to fucking kill me?! No. I’m too fucking strong for you, I’m too fucking strong for ALL OF YOU!”

Catra tightened her grip, and the Owl was sure he’d be in danger. He could last minutes like this before suffocating, but any tighter and she might risk breaking his neck. Thankfully, the collar he always spoke through allowed him to still speak clearly.

“Please loosen your grip, and I’ll tell you what I can.”

The collar bleated.

“Why the fuck should I?” Catra retorted.

“I am a bird, I may be able to last a few minutes with you choking me out, but you’re on the verge of breaking my neck, and You can’t get answers from a corpse.” Tactus simply put. Catra tightened her grip the tiniest bit before releasing her grip out of frustration.

“FUCK!” She threw her hands up into the air, stepping off Tactus.

“You better get explaining right goddamn now!”

Tactus sighed, taking a deep breath of air.

“You must remember I can’t say everything, but the answers will be revealed if you read between the li-“

Catra gritted her teeth and picked Tactus up off his feet, holding him around the neck again. Lifting him up into the air.

“I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR GAMES, NOW TALK”

Feeling his air cut off again, Tactus spoke up, glaring down at the Cat, his beak clicking as he did.

“I don’t choose to play these games, I just don’t have much of a choice, Force Captain Catra.” Tactus replies, tapping his collar for emphasis. Catra dropped him onto his feet again.

“FUCK. FINE!” She shouted in aggravation, crossing her arms.

Tactus cleared his throat, not to speak of course. But just to settle the phlegm in his throat after being grabbed so roughly.

“First, I’d like to say that my goal this entire time has been to help you and your partner to the best of my abilities. Even if I may have certain elements, that hold me back to a _shocking_ degree.” He says, tapping the side of his collar again. Clearing his throat roughly, so she’d perhaps focus on the issue at hand.

“Yeah I got that bird brain. But what the fuck about what happened to me? If you’re supposed to be helping me, why the fuck did you practically line me up to get my brain probed?”

Tactus looked down at the floor in shame.

“I am still bound to certain expectations by the Horde. The Horde is not fond of resistance. There are just certain things I must do so long as I am bound to their rules. This…” Tactus paused, trying to find the right words without setting off his collar.

“I…forgive me I have some trouble, er, navigating my speech right now.”

Catra’s eyes widened in anger.

“Excuse me? You can’t just leave it at that.”

“I’m not planning on it.”

“Yeah? Well I want answers. So, forget whatever that collar thing does to you, cause I can do a whole lot worse. Believe me when I say I have every right to after what I went through!”

Catra threatened, grabbing Tactus’ tunic and pulling him over to be eye to eye with her. Baring her sharp teeth, and growling. The Owlman met her with his own beak clicking in anger. The crest on his head furrowed and seemed to change the shape of his face to a more intimidating visage.

“I…would be more inclined to speak, if you could assist me with my problem…there’s only so much I can do before it’d be quite problematic for the both of us. If you can figure something out, I’d be delighted to share as many details as you demand.” Tactus cleared his throat again, tapping his collar impatiently.

Catra squinted at him, suddenly remembering something she had on her. Tactus’ piercing lilac gaze stared back.

“You’ll tell me everything I want to know?”

“Considering that I believe we have common interests? Yes.”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Catra considered his words. She pulled the paper clip she had taken earlier out of her pocket.

“Was hoping to use this to pick a lock later, but maybe we can use this to get you out of that collar?”

Tactus sighed, shaking his head.

“No. Much of Prime’s Technology is bio-locked. A paper clip would not allow someone to break through.” Tactus remarked.

“Figures, glad I grabbed it anyways, cause I got an idea. You get shocked by that collar, right?” Catra asks, suddenly grabbing him by the collar and pulling him down so she can get a better look.

“…I am not at liberty to say…” Tactus responds, suddenly finding himself forced to look down at the ground by Catra’s rough handling.

Catra stuck a finger inbetween his neck and the collar, feeling around.

“I know a thing or two about Horde tech, I once had to help repair one of our tanks in the field after some of the wires popped loose, plus I had a personal favorite shock baton for a while. So, I know a little bit about circuits too.” Catra exposits, feeling around with her finger.

“Small battery on your collar, probably about the same as our batons. Now our batons were designed to complete the circuit moment it touched skin, so that means knowing the Horde they have similar tech…hah hah!” Catra exclaimed in joy, feeling two distinct little metal prongs.

Tactus, following along with her methodology figured it out.

“So if you complete the circuit-“

“Before the circuit reaches your body…” Catra trailed off, bending the paperclip around the metal prongs tightly. Letting go of Tactus when she felt it was on tight enough.

“There. Now how’s about telling me what I want to know?”

Tactus paused, holding a finger up.

“I have been waiting to say this for a few years, and I need to test that it works first. Do you mind?”

Catra rolled her eyes.

“Fine, just be quick.”

Tactus inhaled deeply. Preparing himself for what he was going to say. His collar emitting the words he wanted to say most at this moment.

“Fuck.”

Tactus involuntarily winced, but when he realized the shock wasn’t coming he felt a ecstatic grin curve along his beak. 

Catra scoffed in amusement, she hadn’t expected that he was going to say that.

“Fuck… FUCK. OH I CAN SAY FUCK NOW!” Tactus opened his mouth and screeched in joy. His collar continuing to speak for him.

“FUCK YOU HORDE PRIME!” Tactus screamed out. He was releasing years of repressed anger in a brief series of screams. His feathers seemed to ruffle as he let out his frustation.

Catra snickered at the once charming and gentlemanly birds’ sudden abrasiveness.

“OH YOU ARE A DEAD MOTHERFUCKER! I will burn down your entire _fucking_ citadel! I will tear you apart cell by cell if I have to!” The slightly crazed owl pledged.

Catra, seeing he was having a bit of a moment, decided it might be best to back off.

“I will personally shove your pale, gene-stealing, shit color picking, fascist, genocidal, ASS into an unmarked series of graves! THAT’S RIGHT. PLURAL. There won’t be enough left of you for anyone to identify you from the shit from whence you came!”

“Uh…Tactus?” Catra was getting fed up. She admired his anger, and could not only relate, but downright relished in the fact that there was seemingly someone else almost as angry as her. Still, he had been going for longer than she wanted, and hoped he’d end it off soon so she can get to her questions.

“I WILL UNLEASH A PAIN ONTO YOU THAT YOUR ENTIRE GENETIC STOCK WILL FEEL. I WILL TURN YOU INTO MY PERSONAL PROMETHEUS. I WILL MAKE PRIME REGRET EVERY BREATH HE HAS EVER TAKEN. AND MOST OF ALL. MOST OF FUCKING ALL!”

“Tactus…”

“I WILL MAKE PRIME FEEL THE FIRES OF THE BLOODLINE HEMO INVICTA!” Tactus finished, shaking his fist in the air as if he were in the middle of a speech. Seeming to remember where he was as Catra stood there, looking both shocked and impressed at the amount of hate he seemed to be channeling at that moment.

“I don’t know whether to clap at what I just heard or feel like I should lock your crazy ass up too.”

Tactus coughed awkwardly. Regaining his previous composure and straightening out the feathers that had come out of place.

“Forgive me, I have…a lot of pent up feelings about Horde Prime after these past few years.” Tactus says, rubbing the back of his neck in a bit of shame at his sudden outburst. He had been left to his own thoughts for years, and he could only imagine what this must look like to her.

“I’ll fucking say, you just did some big evil villain monologue infront of me!”

“…The um, Bubos, my specific, er, group in Aviaria were known for tending to be, well…remarkably dramatic. We make speeches, we live dramatically. It’s just in our…well in our nature…I’m…yeah.” Tactus words fell short, and he rubbed his arm sheepishly. 

Another silence fell, as the two predators stared at eachother. Catra soon cracking a wild grin and chuckling to herself, shaking her head.

“You are one crazy fucking bird.” 


	11. The Owl and The Pussycat

“Now that you’ve got all that out of your system, I think it’s time for you to pay your debt, cause last I checked, you owe me a few explanations.” Catra asserted, taking a seat at the dinner table in her usual spot.

“Before I do this, and do forgive me, but I have one last request.” Tactus urged.

Catra slammed an angry fist against the table, almost cracking it. She was getting more than frustrated at the Owl’s stalling.

“What more could you want?”

Tactus’ brow narrowed briefly before relaxing again.

“I just wish for your permission to remove the top half of this awful fascist suit the Horde has put me in. My wings are killing me.” Tactus requests, not asking out of genuine permission, but moreso out of courtesy.

“Fine. Whatever.” Catra waved her hand. Tactus quickly undoing the binding of his uniform, which held tightly to the top half of his body like a corset. Pulling the tunic off, his wings stretched off from his body. Still almost paper thin from lack of use, and still at their 10-foot-long wingspan.

His wings were colored in the same caramel colored shades of brown as those on his head, with streaks of muted purple running through them that almost seemed to match his amethyst colored eyes. His entire face awash with relief. The ever-permanent scowl that he carried as a result of his head crest, lightened to almost seem serene.

“Thank you.” Tactus nods his head in appreciation.

“Yeah, whatever. Down to business. Why did you poison me earlier? And what in the fuck was all that?” Queried the Feline. Referring to the very weird and unorthodox treatment she had received minutes prior.

“Well, the most recent thing was me giving you the antidote. The unpleasant bit afterwards with the rag was to stimulate your heart rate. Increased heart rate means increased blood flow. Increased blood flow means the antidote could retake your system quicker and you regain your senses. I mean, I couldn’t just leave you like that.”

“Oh, how fucking sweet! But you still gave me something that messed with my head earlier!” Catra tartly asserted.

Tactus looked down at the glass table in shame.

“I was ordered to by the Horde. If I resisted, they would have snapped my wings or outright killed me. I put a dosage of ‘Compliance’ into your breakfasts earlier today.”

“Compliance? Is that a mind control drug?” Catra asked, finally feeling validated that she might be correct.

“Well technically no, but also yes. The Horde does use the medication for that purpose.”

“I FUCKING KNEW IT.”

“Then why didn’t you take the antidote when I provided it to you this morning? I winked to Glimmer to let her know to take it, yet I found that you had not consumed it.” Tactus shot back.

“…I’m the one…Fuck…” Catra grimaced, still not fully wanting to accept that Glimmer was right to trust Tactus. The argument still fresh in her mind, even if it also seemed to happen weeks ago with how the day had felt. 

“I didn’t think I could trust you! For all I knew, _that_ was the mind control drug!”

Tactus sat in confused silence, staring at Catra. Pondering that logic over. He was downright furious, still bitter about the kerfuffle of having to hide them before on his way out of the medical wing. Calmly, he spoke.

“Force Captain Catra, if I was going to drug the two of you for explicit mind control purposes, why would I have it be an optional potion on the side? ”

Catra, realizing she had made a grave error, stopped to think. Her face sinking in bitter chagrin, as she stared blankly to the side. After what felt like hours of quiet deliberation, she finally did the most rational thing that popped into her head.

She doubled down.

“Could’ve been a double feint, convince Glimmer you’re trustworthy then watch her drink the real mind control potion. You can’t tell me the Horde isn’t evil enough to think like that.”

Tactus dryly chuckled. She did have a point, or at least half a point.

“By the phoenix, I know! But you’re neglecting one simple fact, it’s just too smart for the Horde. Especially Prime’s Horde. Their arrogance is masqueraded as pride and is the sole root of every misstep they make. Did you know they haven’t even bothered to wire me up as a microphone or a camera?”

Catra, felt a rush of anxiety flood her, briefly remembering that was a concern to begin with. But as his words settled in her mind, the anxiety turned to confusion.

“Wait, _really_?”

Tactus lifted his hands up into the air, as if he were presenting evidence to a crowd. The poor planning of the Horde had been bothering him since he had arrived. Adding onto the shame of having lost to them, when there were so many flaws with simple fixes.

“Yes! They feel so proud and secure in their space citadel, that they don’t even bother with cameras or microphones! The hallways have none of that, body cams don’t even go on drones unless they go into the field. They could’ve bugged this entire room, but they simply refuse! They’re so confident in the inescapability of this place they see no reason to! I’d bet my feathers that in your interrogation they didn’t even bother to ask if or how you were planning to escape?”

Catra’s memories regarding her interrogation were foggy from her being unfocused on the paper and rather on her sole anger of wanting to kill the Major. But as she recollected her encounter and the mountains of papers she wrote, she realized there wasn’t a single instance where that question was asked.

Catra stared back at the Bubo in disbelief. This was beginning to worry her for a whole different reason.

“You’re right…they didn’t. But Tactus, what could make them feel so confident?”

“Almost everything they make, and use is bio-locked. Doors, Ships, Most of the bigger weapons. Just simply won’t work unless you’re a clone, and in some cases a high ranking and ‘genetically purer’ one at that.” Tactus waggled his head at the words ‘genetically purer’, in mockery at their odd meritocracy and genetical caste system fusion.

“Plus, there’s no escape pods except for Prime. If anything were to happen, Prime would escape and rebuild with anyone who can get to a spaceship and join up with the rest of the Armada. Only way out is on a ship. But…”

“We can’t ride the ships because we’re not clones.” Catra surmised, feeling as if her house of cards was going to come crashing down.

“Hold on, there is a way!” Tactus reassured.

“It’s going to be messy, but the fact is, there’s no way we’re getting out of here without a big enough, ahem. _Sample_ of one them to use and bypass the sensors.”

Catra rolled her eyes.

“You do realize you don’t have to be subtle anymore, right?”

Tactus’ gave her a small grin.

“Heh. Right. I mean we’re going to have to cut off a fairly big chunk of one, a hand, an eye, hell, a hunk of a clone’s pectoral muscle could work. Not pleasant business, but it’d get us through most of the doors. Maybe even allow us to snag a ship from the docking bay, that’s _if_ we can make it.”

“_We?_” Catra asks, raising a brow.

Indignant, Tactus scoffed.

“Yes. _We._ I don’t want to be here another microsecond let alone another few days. I’ve put my life on the line to help the two of you, and incase you haven’t quite noticed, I don’t exactly have the fondest of opinions on the Horde. Plus, the two of you need all the help you can get. And ontop of all of that, I can assure you, whatever Hordak’s Horde was like, this one is bigger, tougher, and meaner. I’m talking bio-weapons, firebombing, seemingly endless troops and materials, cruel tactics, and you can forget surrender as an option.”

“Surrender isn’t in my vocabulary.” Catra backhandedly retorts.

“Good. Because the moment you surrender you hand over your death warrant. They’ll keep you for awhile, maybe even house you somewhere nice, kinda like this. Maybe put you to work in whatever they think you’ll fit in with. Prime likes to say they don’t torture or kill any of the soldier’s that surrender. But the moment after Prime win’s any bit of territory, those soldiers technically aren’t soldiers anymore. Armies get dissolved, so he then has free reign to do whatever he wants and technically not be lying. If the bastard hadn’t become a big ol’ dictator I assure you he would’ve made for the slimiest shit-heel of a lawyer.”

Catra nodded slowly, crossing her legs and leaning forward on the table. Catra narrowed her eyes at the Owlman. Now it was time to play a little game of her own.

“Right…Right… Look. You’re giving me a whole lot of reasons why I should fear the Horde. To be frank, I don’t fear a whole lot. Whatever anyone throws at me, I either handle it and keep going, or I die and it’s no longer my problem. So, if you want to impress me, give me something useful. You. What can _you_ do?”

Tactus nearly guffawed in offended anger.

“I know this place’s inner workings; I’ve been loyal and willing to assist this entire time! Yet, you ask for _more_?”

“Yeah, intel’s great and all. But what are your skills? Any powers?” Catra prodded. She knew Glimmer had likely made the Bird feel like he was good enough to come on board, but Catra was looking to make sure he could provide more than just that. If what he was saying was true, they needed all hands on deck, and bringing some well-informed ex-slave just because he seemed nice enough wasn’t going to do it for her. If things went wrong, she wanted to know who she was going to have to rely on.

Plus, she felt she was justified to poke fun at him a bit and make him fret, after the experience she had with the Major because of him.

“…Well…” Tactus began.

“I’m afraid powers are, um. I’m not sure actually, but not entirely unlikely as a future possibility?” Tactus said, trying to sell himself up.

“Oh?” Catra’s ears perked up. After fighting the Princesses back on Etheria, the potential for a fighter in her corner with magic excited her.

“Well…Um. Well, I want to clarify first that I’m not a mystic by any means, but…Well there was a myth that my family was descended from a Phoenix that enlightened my people. Mother grew to be pretty old after all, about 800. Which is a little over 5 times our typical lifespan! That, and well…”

“Come on Ticcy-Tacs, get to the juicy bits!” Catra snapped her fingers expectantly.

“Well, my brother Decimus was able to control and shift fire, and my sister Talia was able to turn water into a potion base with just the touch of a talon…” Tactus says, waiting for a response. Catra staring at him expectantly.

“…ok, so they got _that_. And that’s cool and all, but what can you do?” Catra asked, now excited and intently listening to his every word. Staring expectantly at Tactus.

Feeling too many familiar memories resurface from his childhood, Tactus looked away from her.

“……I don’t know. I…I never learned what I could do…or if I even could! I just…” Tactus’ beak clenched. Old shame seeming to creep back in. Catra backing off, feeling uncomfortable with his sudden emotions. Noticing his eyes had begun to water.

‘Oh shit.’

“I…I was too young. I was barely 14 when I had to start fighting, I was training my entire young life to make healing potions and be a medic. Everything I can do I had to learn fast. There was just too much bloodshed and the royal family was…expected to fight. I…” Tactus brought a talon up to his mouth, biting down on the end of it in his beak.

“Uh…” Catra spoke up, not sure what to say now. She wanted to prod him, but she didn’t expect him to get like this.

“I was too young…Decimus learned his power at 17, and Talia, oh brilliant and wonderful Talia was an early bloomer and found hers at like 15, but me? I had to fight so soon after hatching…I was just a kid, Catra I...”

Tactus turned his head, looking at the dumbstruck Feline, who couldn’t quite find the sarcastic lines to say all the sudden. Not used to people breaking down around her like this. 

Tactus wiped the tears out of his eyes with the back of his hand, looking away from Catra.

“I’m, sorry. I didn’t mean to get so emotional. I just…I don’t talk much to others and it’s all been bottled up for awhile now. To answer your question, I have no idea if I was born with powers, but by all accounts, I should have them. Decimus got to represent the flames of the Phoenix, Talia got to represent the gift of potioncraft from the Phoenix, me? I have no idea.” Tactus confided. Catra remaining silent.

Catra never considered herself good with words, and with as unstable as the Owl seemed at this moment, she dared not say anything that might make this worse. Seeing someone cry when she didn’t even want them to start just made her feel awkward.

“Fuck, I even had a hard time learning how to fly. Imagine that? An owl unable to fly? It’s like a sad joke. Then I went through some growth spurts here of all places! Stunted my wings, living in a cell. I don’t even know if I can fly anymore…but what I do know is that if there is one thing, I’m good at, it’s being a damn good field medic.”

Tactus affirmed, his posture seeming to straighten as he recollected his pride. Standing up to deliver his words with all the bravado he felt they deserved.

“My world’s medicine ability outpaced the Horde at the time of our meetup, we were, nay. We _are_ some of the best potioncrafters alive. My people didn’t even have a modern word for ‘scar’. I’ve reattached limbs, stuffed entire organs back into people, and revived people most other species would consider-long gone. With how much the Horde stole from us, I’m likely your world’s only hope for a quick enough medicinal revolution to match them.” Tactus declares, some of his people’s trademark dramaticism flowing out as he spoke.

“I may not have been the best potionmaker of my time, or even the best medic, and certainly not a doctor by my people’s standards of medicine. Not the best soldier, not even the best or second-best military officer for my people. But you will certainly be hard-pressed to find a single individual that’s as good of a combination of those titles whom hates the Horde more than I do, in the entirety of creation!” Tactus practically preached.

Catra sat there, dumbstruck at Tactus’ sudden shift from self-pitying to filled with wrath and conviction. A bemused little grin adorning her face, bringing her hands together to give him a small slow clap. Applause for the show he had put on for her.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me enough. You made a good enough sell, and I am a hard person to sell to.” Catra complimented.

Tactus held up a hand to stop her. His face sullen, his pride from before having faded.

“But wait, there’s one last thing I must address. It’s important, and you may need to be sitting down for this one.”

Catra’s eyes stared back uncertain, but heeding him she sat back down in the chair anyways. Tactus joining her in seated position, back at eye level with her.

“…Ok. There is one major issue. I need to reiterate that I’m not a mystic, or at least not a very strong believer as most. But…there are certain traits I cling to. As a medic for my people, I had to swear off my personal use of weaponry.”

Catra grit her teeth, staring back at him as if he had just told her to carry Shadow Weaver up 18 flights of stairs.

“Excuse me?” Catra couldn’t believe her ears. This big 6 foot 4, 45lb, hollow-boned walking target was going to refuse to carry a weapon. Who cares if they’d be getting healed whenever they got injured? They’d need it after his big feather butt gave them away!

“I need to clarify. That although I am forbidden from carrying a blade, bow, or even one of the typical horde weaponries, the vow applies only to anything that is typically considered a weapon or made for the explicit purpose as a weapon. My claws are my tools and my hunting gear. I am an Owl, and you may find my grip is quite strong. Strong enough to snap bone with ease.” Tactus made a gripping motion with his hand for emphasis.

“And even potions can be used offensively if need be, as they still fall under tools of my trade. But I cannot carry a weapon with you.”

In the same tone one would speak in had Tactus spat in Catra’s face, she shot back to him. Standing up as she did.

“But if one of us in danger, pinned down by Horde Soldiers, about to die, are you just going to let us die because your stupid fucking code won’t let you pick up a weapon?”

Tactus glared back at the feline, standing up and trying to take her assertion with grace.

“With all due respect, I have been in live-combat before. I do not hesitate to protect my patients and fellow soldiers. I am quite protective, infact. Such a situation would not occur.”

“You don’t GET to decide that, Tactus. You don’t get to pick what happens in life sometimes, cause gods know you clearly wouldn’t have picked to live your life as a Horde slave all this goddamn time! So, what is it, Tactus?” Catra demands, pointing a finger in his face.

Pushing her finger away. Tactus rebuttals.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t defend you, nor did I say I wouldn’t act. I will personally deal with any individual who puts my patients at risk. I will put these fascists down to my last breath, with my talons as need arises! Rather than a blade, bow, or blaster, I will kill them with my bare hands for having the gall to come between my patients and their well-deserved healing!”

Their argument was interrupted, as the steel doors shifted open in quick succession. The two predators looking back to the doors, Tactus’ head turning 270 degrees as an owl’s does.

In the doorway, looking as if she had been through several wars, stood the familiar Queen of Brightmoon, Glimmer. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes drenched in sweat, with bruises all over her body. Small burns here and there dotted along her skin.

“Hey guys,” She weakly spoke, coughing slightly and swaying from exhaustion. Tactus and Catra rushing out of their seats toward her.

“HOLY SHIT” Catra exclaimed. Tactus sweeping in and catching Glimmer underneath her shoulder, Catra quickly picking up the slack and getting her from the other side.

“Training was fun…” Glimmer sarcastically remarked, her knees buckling under her as she passed out in their arms.


	12. Healing Hands

“Quick, we need to get her to the bed!” Tactus exclaims, hauling the unconscious Glimmer down the hall of her room. Catra holding steadfast under Glimmer’s right arm.

“What the fuck did they do to her?” Asked a somewhat worried feline, looking at Glimmer’s beaten body. She was soaked in sweat, her body covered in small bruises. Painful looking burns dotted her back, and along her arms and legs. Most were thankfully first degree, but a few had started to bubble as second degree burns.

“She went to training, yes? They must’ve tried to push her too hard. Holograms can shoot electricity and even throw some punches.” Tactus gingerly walked, looking at how they were holding Glimmer and deciding there had to be a better way to do this.

“We might be doing more damage to her carrying her like this. Hang on to her top half, I’m going to lift her!”

Tactus got low, slipping himself under Glimmer and lifting carefully with his legs. Picking her up in a fireman’s carry. Realizing quickly, he was making a horrible mistake to do so. He had briefly forgotten that most other species did not, in fact have hollow bones as he did. With the Queen weighed a teensy bit more than his maximum carrying ability, especially in his weakened and out of shape body.

Too prideful to simply ask for help. Tactus let out an anxious yelp as he shuffled quickly to the room.

“Catra get the door. Catra THE DOOR”

Seeing his struggles, she at first wanted to send a few jeers his way, before quickly being shut down.

"You okay th-“

“CATRA PLEASE GET THE DOOR. I WEIGH LESS THAN A DUMBBELL AND SHE WEIGHS A LOT MORE THAN THAT.”

Tactus snapped frighteningly at her. Making the Cat recoil briefly. Catra dashing towards the door and opening it for the labored owlman.

The Bubo quickly shuffling in with his legs nearly buckling with each step. Reaching the bed, he came down into a slow bow, and placed Glimmer on the bed, lying on her stomach so as not to put stress on her burned back.

The now partially sweat covered Owl stood bolt upright and twisted on his heel. Moving as a seasoned officer would. Fast, purposeful, and direct.

“Catra quick, get her a glass of water and the potions sitting on the table. Blood red vial with crystals, and the yellow milky one, NOW.” Tactus barked out orders, seeming to regain some of the confidence from the old days.

Catra, though by no means happy with taking orders, was smart enough to understand that now wasn’t the time to argue. Turning around and heading out to get the requested materials.

“Got it, Doc.” She half-snarked out, almost respecting his sudden authoritative turn. Rushing to the living room. 

Tactus, observing the unconscious Glimmer, took a moment to check her pulse, placing two fingers on her neck. Then assessing her general state. Noting all the sweat she was covered in.

“Syncope, Water loss, burns, bruises… Likely dehydration, burns not too bad. Thankfully plenty of glucose from breakfast already helping healing process. But the sheer amount of these burns. Scientists should’ve stopped long ago. By the phoenixes I’ll kill them for this…” Tactus grimaced.

Even if they were trying to test on Glimmer, the thing that angered Tactus the most was the sheer disregard for the subject and how they had went about it. They had just dropped her off and probably expected her to be all fine and dandy by tomorrow, with no regard for the pain she was in right now or the stress her body had been put under.

Tactus pushed his anger out of his body, focusing back on treatment and immediate needs for Glimmer.

“Needs water and salt in body. Can’t bathe for Warrior’s Rest to properly work. Needs burn curative applied first. Need to remove clothes for burn treatment…”

Tactus moved a talon down to the neck of Glimmer’s shirt, feeling towards the backseam. Ever so slightly lifting it up, eliciting a groan from the Queen, who began to stir.

“Oh good, was getting concerned with how long you were out.” Tactus says, Glimmer’s stirring made him remember his training. It had been some time since he had done proper bedside manner. So long that he was almost unsure if he had ever had the opportunity to do it at all in the middle of a war.Still He quickly dropped to his knees besides Glimmer, taking her hand in his. The most important thing right now, was to keep the patient calm.

“Easy……You’re in good hands, and I know it almost certainly hurts. But please try not to move.” Tactus cooed, rubbing the back of Glimmer’s hand with his thumb for reassurance.

“It hurts…” Glimmer gasps, her eyes opening to stare at Tactus.

“I know……Look. I’m going to treat you, but I’m going to have to cut your clothes, ok? Taking them off you the normal way might be too painful.”

“I don’t care just……NNGH…” Glimmer gritted her teeth, a tear rolling down her cheek. The burns and bruises seemed to ache with each heartbeat.

“Just do what you gotta do…” Glimmer breathed out, each respiration feeling like agony with how her back was.

The door slid open, Glimmer reactively trying to turn her head to look but let out a whimper of pain as another searing rush coursed through her. Her skin felt weak, and just the slightest gust of wind or twist irritated it. The Queen gripping the pillow with her hand and tight.

Tactus too, reacted on instinct. His wings flaring out as if to shield his patient from a would-be aggressor. The mantling owl had to pause momentarily in order to remind himself where he was. This wasn’t the battlefields where wind and dust could hinder his work. Getting too swept up in returning to his prior job, he had almost forgotten. His wings folding against his back awkwardly as he breathed in relief. Knowing it was just Catra at the door with the potions.

“Sorry.” Catra grimaced in sympathy at Glimmer’s pain, as she lay there on the bed. Crossing over to Tactus and seeing the extent of her wounds with her own eyes.

She had received similar burns here and there from all manner of wartime occurrences. Even once as a kid when she and Adora played with a Horde taser they had come across in one of the workshops. Catra had picked it up for barely a second to play with it, only to have realized it was in the repair bay for a reason and received second degree burns all on her left hand.

She remembered screaming, and Adora calling for help. The stern lecture from the Horde doctor, and the once in a blue moon moment where Shadow Weaver actually seemed to care about her. The old witch was at first concerned for the first minute and a half before scolding her for reckless playtime.

That had taken 2 months to heal, even with treatment the small burn hurt for 3 whole weeks. With the sheer number of such burns on Glimmer’s back, Catra had a hard time believing they’d be able to get out of here within even a month. Was this what Prime wanted? To set them back? Make sure they were too broken mentally and physically to push through?

Guilt washed over Catra, as an intrusive thought crept through.

‘Is this my fault? If she had just gone to negotiation, we’d be fine, she wouldn’t have answered the questions or she’d have resisted, she could’ve had a chance! But I tried to take the bullet for her and now she’s like this!’

Catra’s thoughts swirled in the brief moments after she had arrived, Tactus rubbing Glimmer’s hand once more before taking the potions from Catra’s hands. Setting the glass of Water on the bedside table. Knocking over the picture of Horde Prime as he did.

“Thank you.” He replies, turning back to his current patient. His eyes tracing over her many wounds, then going back to her face. Tears still streaming down her cheeks, but her resolve held strong. Despite the pain, Glimmer was somehow holding herself together enough to not make so much as a peep.

Tactus turned to the dazed Catra, cocking his head to Glimmer as he spoke. She seemed to be staring at Glimmer with eyes that oozed helplessness.

“I may need some assistance for this.”

Catra’s eyes narrowing at the suggestion.

“What good are you if you can’t help her yourself?” She hissed at him.

Tactus stared at Catra grimly. His crest creasing in annoyance.

“No need for projection, just figured you might want to learn how to help. But never mind, I suppose. I can do this alone.” Tactus replied with a shrug. Setting the two vials on the bedside table and standing tall. Catra immediately regretting her words.

“No, wait…I _want_ to help.” Catra affirms. Tactus giving her a small silent glare before nodding.

“Good.” Tactus dryly said. Taking Catra’s hands in his and guiding them to Glimmer. Pulling her hands to meet the neckhole of Glimmer’s shirt.

“Here. Hold the collar of her garment firmly. Don’t tug on it. Just hold it firm with the tips of your fingers.”

Catra shakily held them, taking a breath to calm herself. Her hands growing as still as a frozen lake once she had focused herself. Catra concentrating on Glimmer’s own labored breaths.

With a slow, smooth motion, Tactus placed the tip of his talon against Glimmer’s shirt. Slowly pulling down and cleaving through as clean and precise as a scalpel.

“Move them out of the way nice and slow.” Tactus dictated, crossing to the other side of the bed and taking the half on his side. Letting Catra take half for herself. He carefully peeled the spandex off and down. Resting the torn fabric half on the side of the bed, and exposing Glimmer’s back. Catra following suit with slow movements.

“NNNGH…F..fuh-haaaaaah” Glimmer squirmed in pain. Gripping tighter as she tried not to scream. Letting out deep pained breaths.

“Ooh….Fuck…” She muttered, feeling the air on her injured back. In the best of circumstances, revealing her entire back to these two in this way was less than desirable. Still, she was grateful so far that Catra seemed to be taking things seriously. She could expect that from the ex-field medic, but with Catra’s antics throughout her life, and even earlier that day, Glimmer was pleasantly surprised with her.

“Pass the Burn Curative, Yellow vial.” Tactus requested. Catra passing it over quickly.

“How is this stuff supposed to work?” 

Tactus bit the cork off, his collar explaining as he did.

“If you mean potions in general, it’s all about finding specific attributes you want to amplify in something and apply elsewhere. If you mean this one specifically, you’re about to see.”

Tactus tilted the vial, which seemed to move slow as honey. In fact, the air seemed to fill with the smell of honey and aloe vera, the thick milky solution slowly oozing out to the lip of the potion. Tactus scraped the tiniest little drop off with a talon, carrying the little drop of fluid down to a rather nasty looking burn near the base of Glimmer’s back.

Tactus let the first drop slip off the tip of his finger and impact against the edge of the burn.

“OOH” Glimmer exclaimed, feeling as if a drop of cold water had hit her back. The feeling seeming to radiate from the impact. Catra watched in amazement as just from such a tiny drop a small tower of steam seemed to emanate. The skin underneath returning to it’s normal hue and looking as if it hadn’t ever been licked by electricity at all.

Tactus’ crest raised. His brow curling into a look of pleasant satisfaction.

“Oh good. It works.” Tactus declared.

Glimmer let out a strangled cry of relief and frustration.

“Thank FUCK for that. But could you please hurry?”

“Right Away, Queen Glimmer. Catra, hold out your hands.”

Catra was still in shock, holding out her hands immediately, but only then did his words process.

“Wait, why are you surprised it worked?”

“New species. Can never be entirely sure what will or won’t work, but I’ve read the reports on biological differences, similar to The ‘First Ones’ as your people call them. So, there was plenty of data to work with.” Tactus exposits, pouring some of the fluid into Catra’s palms. The texture immediately putting her off.

“Ok…but why did you…Oh this is…yeah this feels like straight up honey.” She cringed at the feeling of it on her hands. The sticky feeling barely lessening the longer it was on.

“Why are you putting this on me and not her?” Catra motioned to Glimmer. Tactus chuckling.

“Because we need to apply it by hand so we can make sure we get everything. It’s a gel, _Nurse_ Catra.” Tactus teased, spreading some of the potion in his hands too. The Feline giving an indignant glare.

“I am not a fucking Nurse.”

“Was being a tad generous there. Trying to be nice and put us at the same ranking, since I’m not exactly a Doctor either.” Tactus jested, rubbing his hands together as Catra rolled her eyes.

“Gee thanks. Well if you’re a nurse, shouldn’t you be wearing a cutesy little outfit then?”

“Oh, I’d look good in one of those, a nice lavender to bring out my eyes.”

“Ladies, you’re both pretty. But could you please?” Glimmer practically begged. She was getting tired of them bantering over her. Though she had to admit the thought of either of them in a nurse’s outfit stirred some interesting ideas in her head.

“Ah yes, Queen Glimmer, this is going to feel both amazing and slightly cold. Catra, watch what I do.”

Tactus placed the tip of his index finger at the very edge of one of the larger burns. Moving in a spiral motion around the circumference and slowly working his way in. His talon pressed down ever so slightly, as steam erupted from the blemish. The discoloration from the burns seemed to evaporate with the steam. Erasing as easily as stray pencil marks on paper. The gel dissipating with the steam, even removing some of the mild discomfort of its semi-sticky texture. 

Glimmer buried her face in the pillow, biting down hard. It felt like cold water was being poured down her back, but the pain relief that came after was incredible. She couldn’t quite see what was happening, but she knew it felt like complete magic. Pain had turned to bliss, the medication bringing a new warm feeling that put her at ease.

“Thanffp Fufpt” Glimmer groaned out in relief. Her voice muffled by the pillow.

“Work your way around each burn in a spiral, down to the center.” Tactus instructed, moving his hands to work his way down her back.

Catra stared in incredulousness. There was no way it was really that easy. Picking a particular burn near Glimmer’s hip, she did as instructed. Feeling an odd sensation of coolness as she made contact, swirling around the burn. Glimmer letting out an alleviated sigh. Catra slowly working in a groove as she quickly dissipated the burn. Glimmer’s skin returning to its normal caramel-colored shade.

Tactus’ eyes lit up as Catra worked. The faintest trace of a smile adorning his beak. Though he didn’t take his hands off their spots of working on the burns near Glimmer’s shoulders, he let out some worlds of adulation.

“Well done. Might just make a healer out of you, yet.”

Catra scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Please. This feels less like healing and more like a really oily massage.”

“Hey now, don’t skip ahead.” Tactus retorted, only half sardonic.

Glimmer’s ear perked up at that little comment. What had begun as healing was slowly turning into a spa-day for her, and she was quickly finding herself somewhat giddy at the notion.

“What do you mean _skip ahead_ ?” Catra asked, still not taking her eyes off Glimmer’s almost fully healed back. The two of them having made quick progress in only a few minutes.

Tactus waited until he moved from Glimmer’s back to her arms. Quickly healing the small burns she had incurred. Only then choosing to speak.

“Well, we’ve only taken care of half the problem. Glimmer still has a fair few bruises on her, and even when we’re done with this, we’re going to have to stimulate her cells to heal properly. Which yes, will require some massaging.”

“…You’re kidding.” Catra deadpanned. She was down for the previous help back when it seemed like just typical medicine, but now that it had gotten to _this_ she was starting to have some reservations.

Sure, they had made some great progress, but giving the Queen she had fought for as long as she did didn’t quite sit right with Catra. Something about being so subservient to her like some kind of handmaiden felt weird.

But there was the tiniest flutter in Catra’s chest as she stared down at Glimmer’s exposed back now that she was almost completely healed. The way the light seemed to glisten off her like the glittery constellations that Catra had only just so recently become familiar with.

Tactus noted Catra’s gaze. He had been staring too, though been withholding such feelings to himself. T’was not appropriate for him to stare so transfixedly while he still had a job to do. She was very different then what he had been accustomed to, but the thing that caught his eye more than anything was the peculiar birthmarks she had at the top of her shoulders. His hands had traced over them mere moments earlier, two small little purple wings.

Deciding to make a careful ploy, Tactus spoke in a false sense of disappointment.

“Oh well, if you aren’t willing to help further, I suppose I can’t force you. And I suppose then that I’ll have to continue alone….” He commented, trailing off hoping she’d take the bait.

Not even a millisecond passed before Catra stopped him.

“Hey now. I didn’t back out just yet! I just would’ve liked to know beforehand……that’s all.”

Catra deflected, turning her head down to avoid blushing.

“Good. Good…Say Glimmer, you’ve been awful quiet. How’re you doing there?” Tactus asked, half-trying to check in and half-trying to gauge if any of the feelings he was sensing in this room were mutual.

“GoOd” Glimmer’s voice cracked. Her heart had been racing in anticipation. It wasn’t often that she had two relatively attractive people paying her such attention at once. Her mind having drifted to memories of old romance novels and even a few particular dreams she had had of such similar moments. Some of which Catra had even featured in, though the owl was certainly new to the equation.

She cleared her throat before she spoke.

“Ahem! Yep. Just fine. Just…enjoying the healing! Heh heh…yeah…”

Not quite buying her response, Tactus pretended he didn’t notice the obvious.

“Good……just checking.” Tactus coyly acquiesced, turning to Catra and placing his hands back on Glimmer’s shoulders.

“Now Catra, I’m sure you’re familiar with massages, but let me just give you a quick brief…”

He pressed his thumbs into Glimmer’s back, digging into the space between shoulder blades, applying just the slightest amount of pressure. Slowly kneading and working his way down.

“Work the shoulder blades, knead with thumbs, knuckles, elbows even. Pretty simple.”

Glimmer bit her lip, the feeling of his thumb on her shoulder blades was slightly painful, but not in the typical sense of pain. The kind that was temporary but elicited greater relief once it was done, like a good stretch. Glimmer was amazed as his surprising amount of dexterity and tenderness in his work, what with having big ol’ bird claws for hands. He worked slow and smooth, a light sensation of moisture accompanying the minuscule traces of the Burn Curative he applied before.

“So how is this supposed to help again?” Catra asked, seemingly a touch skeptical with the Owlman, whom had moved his hands down to knead at Glimmer’s back with his knuckles.

“Stimulates regrowth in the cells, similar to the massages one would do for muscular atrophy. Why?”

“Cause it seems a taaaad odd of a treatment choice. Don’t think you’d have time to give the patient ‘the works’ in the field.”

Tactus paused, looking around the room. His head swiveling around as owl’s would, turning around, behind his head, and all the way to 270 degrees, before snapping back to look at Catra.

“You will be amazed to find we aren’t in the field right now.” He quipped. Laughing as Catra’s face turned to annoyance. Glimmer snickering into her pillow.

“I merely jest. No, the procedures are different in the field versus at rest. Believe me, I’ve worked in both the tents and the mud. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have the time to be so thorough, but as there aren’t many concerns at the moment, I felt the need to go all the way with this and even turn it into a bit of a lesson.”

“Yeah, cause we’re totally not looking to escape from here or anything anytime soon! Totally shouldn’t spend our time planning that and maybe hurry this up!” Catra chided. As much fun as she was having with all this, the nagging concern in the back of her head had been eating away at her.

Glimmer tensed up at Catra’s words, lifting her head up.

“S-she’s just kidding! We’re totally fine being here and staying here trying to figure out how we fit into the whole Prime System he-“ She attempted to salvage the situation, unaware that it had been taken care of fairly recently.

“He’s not wired anymore, Sparkles. Prime’s an idiot and didn’t actually put a camera or mic on him.” Catra informed. Tactus nodding in agreement.

“It’s true. He’s a moron, and your wonderful partner here figured out a bypass on the collar. Preventing me from getting shocked while merely speaking my mind. You’re quite fortunate to have her with you, Queen Glimmer.”

Glimmer, dumbfounded, turned to look back at Catra in shock. Catra averting her eyes as a blush began to make itself known.

“I’ll say.” Glimmer responded, shooting her a tiny little smile.

Catra’s eyes darted briefly to Tactus, who gave her a little wink.

‘Oh you’re not entirely off the hook for earlier yet, Birdbrain…but it’s a start.’ She thought.

“And, just as brilliant as she is. She did make a good point. Force Captain Catra, I assume you were paying good attention to the lesson, yes?” Tactus asked, standing up straight and cracking his knuckles.

“Knead the back, work the shoulder blades, and use your knuckles, it’s a massage. Not Rocket Surgery.” Catra responded with sly confidence. Feeling the compulsion to crack her own knuckles in response.

“Good. Good. I’m going to go prep the second half of the healing process. Which reminds me, say Glimmer?”

“Yes?” The Monarch spoke up.

“How’re you feeling?”

Glimmer shifted a little to test her body out. She still had some bruises, her legs seemed fine. All that was left was some soreness, really.

“Better. That stuff works quick.” Glimmer noted. Healing magic always surprised her with its effectiveness.

“Any other issues? You passed out on us earlier there, but you seem a little more lucid. Headaches? Fuzzy Thoughts?”

Glimmer rubbed her temples, feeling a surge in her head at the mention.

“Yes. I had a headache earlier. Bit uhm, thirsty. Exhausted, but I’m sure I can move on my own now, thank you.”

At the mention of ‘thirsty’, Tactus and Catra both reached for the water. Catra grabbing it first and passing it to Glimmer. Who moved to lift herself up with one hand. Using the other to tilt the glass back. The arm under her trembled with exhaustion. Tactus reaching out to place his hand on her chest for support.

“Easy.” He whispered softly. Catra placing her hand on Glimmer’s shoulder.

Glimmer pulled her lips away from the glass. Feeling the warmth of Catra’s hand on her shoulder and the slightest tickle from Tactus’ talon brushing against her clavicle. Her heart practically did a somersault in her chest.

“I’m FiNe” Her voice cracked again. Placing the water cup back on the bedside table. Catra and Tactus backing off.

“If you say so, Sparkles.”

Tactus turned to Catra.

“Keep an eye on her, holler if you need me. I’m going to prep Queen Glimmer’s bath.” Tactus remarked. Grabbing the bottle of Warrior’s Rest and striding to the bathroom.

Glimmer, much as she hated herself for thinking of it. Considered faking greater exhaustion just for the chance to maybe get a sponge-bath, considering her current nurses.

“And what am I supposed to do?” Catra asked. Somewhat annoyed that he was leaving her to continue. But simultaneously thankful that she’d at least be able to not worry about him hovering over her.

“Just keep working on her, Catra. I imagine she’ll need a bit more attending to while I prep, and by now I imagine you’re an expert at massages. I’m sure you’ll get along just fine.”

Tactus, despite his stonefaced demeanor, gave Catra the quickest wink. So quick that Catra was almost sure she had imagined it as he disappeared out of view into the bathroom. The metal door slamming shut with a loud clang. Now it was just Catra and Glimmer, the former trying to decipher what the wink meant. 

‘Why did he wink is he trying to……OH YOU FEATHERY BITCH.’

Catra started connecting whatever dots she could get ahold of, realizing he had left her alone with Glimmer on purpose. He could’ve just asked her to run the bath, but he specifically decided to let Catra do this.

Was this for some sick kicks, or was he trying to help set her up? Catra’s eyes went back down to Glimmer’s bare back. Slowly placing her mitts down. Immediately beginning to knead without any words. She didn’t know if she had anything good to say right now. What could she really say?

‘Hi, sorry I made you an orphan. Let me just massage your half-naked body!’

These past couple days were seeming more and more absurd, and she was still sure she was in coma rather than a dream now. Maybe she had died when Glimmer attacked her in the warehouse, and this was all a hallucination before burning to death. Sure the dream idea was ruled out earlier, but Catra never had the greatest grip on her sanity before this, so she wasn’t sure.

“Hey, uh…Catra?” The Queen pardoned.

“What’s up Sparkles? You want a foot massage while I’m at it?” Catra bitterly spoke. Not that she was angry, she just wasn’t sure how to cope with all this.

“I’m sorry, I never asked what happened to you? I know you can kinda tell what happened to me but…are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Queenie. I’m just fine.” She angsted. What would be the point of telling her what she went through? She could feel Glimmer tense up.

“…Catra you know that it’s okay to like, not be okay, right? You can tell me what happened. I know it’s been kinda, flip-floppy lately with all the things coming at us. But if anything happened at the interview I-”

“I don’t. Want. To. Talk. About…” Catra tried to be firm. But the emotions were welling inside her at this point. She took a deep breath. This was a lot to get through.

“Fine. You were right Glimmer. You were right because even when I’m right I’m wrong. Tactus _did_ poison us with a mind control serum, but you were the one who drank the antidote. I’m the stupid one for being fucking cautious! I always trust people I’m not supposed to and don’t trust the people I should’ve let in closer!”

“Catra” Glimmer spoke softly, but Catra continued.

“And because I fucked up this time! That sick fuck Major Asshole had me write down everything. Everything about who I am, my fears, hopes, desires. Battle tactics for the Etherian Horde, Relationships, every bit of intel I had on just about anything. I had to sit there, unable to move or control myself and I gave him EVERYTHING. I was powerless and he could’ve slit my throat, he could’ve asked ME to do it and I would’ve! He could’ve…he could’ve…”

Glimmer rolled over, sitting up despite the pain she still felt and taking Catra into an embrace. Holding her tight.

“You’re okay now, Catra. He’s not here, and you’re not like that anymore. We’re getting out of here together, okay? I promise you that.”

Catra, not used to affection like this when she needed it most, hugged Glimmer tight. Glimmer letting out a small grunt of pain. But decided to bear it for Catra.

“I’m just so tired of feeling powerless all the time. It’s all I’ve ever felt my entire life…” She sobbed out. Glimmer beginning to tear up too. The feeling was mutual, for her entire life she had feared the Horde. The things they’d do to her home, anger building up day by day. The anger of not being able to do enough, even when she had begun to fight, even when she had become queen. Nothing felt like it was ever enough.

“I understand. God do I understand. Do you know how many nights I’ve sat up wondering if I’ll be able to make it through the next day? If I’ll be able to do something? If there was anything, anything I could do to make my life just a little better, or better for the people around me?”

Catra pushed Glimmer away, looking into her eyes.

“Did you mean what you said the other day? About giving me a chance. Giving me a chance to try to be a better person?”

“Of course, Catra.” Glimmer’s hand reached up to stroke Catra’s cheek but Catra pushed it away.

“Just…don’t do that…ok? Not that. I…Shadow Weaver she…” Catra stumbled on her words. Glimmer only nodding and hugging her tight.

“You don’t have to say it. Just know I’m willing to…help you be better if that’s what you want to do. Okay?”

Catra buried her face in Glimmer’s hair.

“Good. Because the moment I get out of here, I’m coming with you to Brightmoon, and we’re going to give Prime hell.”

Glimmer smiled but winced again as Catra hugged tighter.

“Still a little tender…”

Catra eased her grip, but still held firm.

“Sorry.” She apologized, finally letting go of Glimmer after a few minutes. Settling to just hold her hands.

“So, how’d you get all roughed up anyways? Was the PT _that_ bad?”

Glimmer chuckled.

“Honestly it was kinda fun. Difficult at first because I was trying to hold back but eventually the holograms got smarter. Ended up being able to nail some hits on me too.”

“I saw.” Catra laughed half-heartedly.

“With all the burns I saw, it seems like you really need someone to watch your six.”

Glimmer giggled.

“I suppose I do. Not used to taking on so many Horde soldiers alone…Guess I’m glad I’ll have you two watching my back once we finally break out of here.”

“Yeah…” Catra quietly muttered, forgetting that Tactus existed for a few minutes. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him anymore. She still thought he was at least kinda an asshole, and he kept seeming to try to win her over lately.

The bathroom door opened, The Bubo in question poking his head out.

“Bath is just about filled.” He called out, walking over to the pair. His keen eyes spotted the tears on their cheeks. Quickly trying to evaluate the situation he was entering.

‘Holding hands. Tears in both eyes, so not physical pain related. Sitting up, close together. Expressions solemn but regaining joy. Just finished a heart-to-heart. Good. Boosts morale and strengthens team bonding. Good courting technique. Act courteous but obtain assistance.’

“If you are ready, Queen Glimmer. I’m sure that Catra and I could assist you if need be.” Tactus remarks. Glimmer waving her hand and standing.

“I think I’ll be…” Her voice caught in her throat as she felt her legs were still like jello. Catra and Tactus both catching her around the shoulders again, just as they had before.

“…Actually, yes. I would love some help!” She affirmed. Gripping tightly to the both of them.

“Thought so, Sparkles.” Catra teased.

“Fear not, for you are in the best of hands, Queen Glimmer.” Chirped Tactus as they led her to her waiting bath.

“Don’t I know it?”


	13. Dealing With The Competition

Catra stared up at the ceiling of stars in her room. Her mind craving some background visuals in the deafening silence of her cabin on Prime's Citadel.

It ate away at her, the lack of noise. Like being in a vacuum. She felt smothered, the beat of her heart in her chest, the surging of blood through her veins. The utter solitary that left her alone with such thoughts. Her mind was a mess and she hated every second of it.

The doubts, the insecurities, the tiniest voice in the back of her head that told her she didn't deserve this opportunity. The kind queen that was willing to work with her.

Those eyes that gazed out at her like purple amber. Her hair like cotton candy, soft and smelling sweet. The fire of her soul, passionate and determined.

Catra clamped a pillow over her head and screamed into it. Such poetry wasn't what her mind was used to! 

She had clamored after Adora for so long, ignoring even the feelings she had felt stirring for others in her pursuit.

Adora had been there for her their entire lives had the events of three years ago not occurred. When she was so callous as to leave her behind.

No, when Catra had refused to abandon their old dreams, but what was the use of such dreams? Such struggle to a fruitless goal?

Despite all she had done to aid in the destruction of Etheria and the lead up to the Prime's arrival, Glimmer was still willing to help her.

The insanity of such an idea. Catra was still struggling to comprehend it. She knew she didn't deserve it, even Glimmer had to have known Catra didn't deserve it.

Was it manipulation? Was it all just a ploy? Catra had thought this before, but the ideas continued to intrude as other feelings poured in.

Suppression. She had to suppress such thoughts.

They were ridiculous, she didn't live in some cheesy romance novel. A war criminal and a Queen? That'd go as well as a Horde Captain and a-

Catra's mind came to a blank. Unsure what Adora was classified as. 'A She-Ra' didn't seem right, but that was what she was going with.

No, it'd never work. The sooner she came to terms with that the better. 

'I'm a mess. First person to come along and give me a little hope and here I am falling head over heels....fuck. I don't even know if I just want to fuck or if I'm just lonely.'

Catra threw the pillow off her in frustration. Getting out of bed.

'I need to get out of this room before I lose my mind'

The door to her room slid open with a clang. The smell of food drifted to her nose. Fried fish, but some strong scent of iron underlaid it and mixed with some type of spice. Sweet but with a burn to it.

Her stomach growled and she temporarily took her mind off the emotional distress at hand. Maybe she was just hungry and some food would help clear her mind.

A familiar voice rang out from the kitchen.

"Greetings, Force Captain Catra! Just working on dinner for today."

Cried out Tactus.

'This fucking bird' Catra thought. Shee didn't like the games he seemed to be playing with her. She couldn't tell his intent, and it bugged her.

Big piercing eyes and his mouth never moving when he spoke. So much expression could be lost. His speech filled with hand motions, and dramatic words to compensate. He almost reminded her of a certain shape-shifter back home, with the added menace of his avian features.

But despite all that there was something inherently goofy to him. He was just a giant bird that talked in such an eloquent way. Never knowing if she should see him as a threat or just an annoyance, Catra responded.

"How'd you know it was me and not Sparkles?"

She shouted, noting that he wasn't even in eyeshot. Exiting from the hallway and seeing Tactus standing in the kitchen. His back to her as he tended to the frying pan.

He tapped with a talon to a little spot on his feathers.

"Asymmetric earholes. Means my hearing is precise, and I heard your door open, not Queen Glimmer's. So she is likely still bathing and healing."

Catra glared daggers at him. Her head turning to the food.

"What's for dinner?"

Tactus' smiled, still intently focused on the food.

"Salmon, rice and broccoli. With a dense blood pie in the oven right now as a savory treat for after dinner."

Catra gagged.

"Is that what that iron smell is? _Blood pie?_"

Tactus turned his head around to look at her.

"By the Phoenix! I forgot about your sensitive nose! I must apologize then. I can't smell a thing but I can imagine it must be awful for you!" 

Tactus reached for a spice bottle off the kitchen counter, unscrewing the lid and passing it over to Catra.

"Take this. Bit of Lemon zest that should at least get the smell out of your nose"

Catra snatched it out of his hands and inhaled softly. 

"It's helping, though the smell is leaving anyways...but Blood Pie? _Really?_ "

Tactus, indignantly tried to defend it. 

"It's a delicacy of my people! Packed with nutrients and when seasoned right is delectably savory...and I'm sure you'll just love it!"

"Yeah sure. I bet the mind control would make me love it to bits." The skeptical Force Captain chided. Tactus scoffing.

"You've been immunized to it for the next week or so. Besides, if I was going to poison you again, would it really make sense to do so before our dinner planning session?"

Catra narrowed her eyes.

"Planning huh? As in to get out of here?"

Tactus nodded. His head turning back to the meal. Flipping the fish.

"Affirmative. I have a plan on how to get out based on what I know. If things go well we'd be back in Etheria in roughly 36 hours."

Catra's ears perked up, eyes wide.

"Are you fucking serious? You've got a plan _that_ good and haven't used it yet? Bull-fucking-shit."

"I've been here for...many years. I think it's been years, not entirely sure. Hard to keep track. But I've gathered up plenty of info in my time about how this all works. Reasonably speaking, there's no way I would be able to do this alone. "

Catra clapped her hands together, rubbing them expectantly.

"Ok, what've we got?"

Tactus shook his head.

"Rather not repeat myself. We can discuss over dinner once Glimmer has finally finished healing. Rather have more input onto plan then less."

"So you're saying this plan might suck, and you'll need us to fix it."

Catra responded, crossing her arms defiantly.

Tactus laughed.

"Perhaps. But I assure you I've had plenty of time to think all this through. I'm not going to play games with your lives when we're so close to freedom." 

Tactus grinned to himself. He took great pride in his plan, and even the many other plans he had thought up and discarded.

He discarded the one bird escape idea after the first few months and branched out to more and more elaborate concepts. 

This plan was as close to perfect as he could hope for, and the personality dynamics would make the potential of these candidates shine in their most dire moments. He could feel it. He knew in the pit of his chest this would succeed. 

Though maybe it was just pride mixed with relief at the Horde's laissez-faire style of security. Their arrogance would be their undoing and Tactus relished the thought of exploiting such weakness for their success. 

"Speaking of games. What the FUCK was that earlier, back with Glimmer?"

Tactus paused. Seeming not to hear her at first. Looking intently at the fish.

"I believe the food is mostly done. I'm going to plate these and let them cool for a bit."

"Come on Birdbrain. I know you heard me ask. You can't just go on about your _'precise hearing'_ and then ignore a question like this! So why don't you go ahead and start talking?"

Tactus scooped the two well cooked filets out, placing them on the plates which already had the vegetables and rice cooked. Seeming not to notice Catra, who was growing more and more impatient.

“Oh, but they might get cold…I’m sure they’ll be fine if placed on the stove for awhile. Residual heat and all, yes?”

“HEY TACTUS”

“I swear, mother filled my head with war strategy but didn’t bother once to teach me a little cooking or food prep…”

“TACTUS” Catra waved her hand infront of the bird’s face, who jumped and turned back around to her. His brow raising in genuine shock.

“OH! Sorry. I get swept up in things sometimes. What was the matter?” He courteously asked. Leaning in to hear.

Catra groaned and restated her question.

“Why did you wink at me earlier when you left me alone with Glimmer? What the fuck was all that!?”

Tactus stared at the exasperated Force Captain, looking her up and down in confusion.

“…is the process of courting different on your world?”

Now it was Catra’s turn to be confused, staring back at the Bubo.

“W-were you trying to court ME?”

The owl laughed and shook his head.

“Oh GOODNESS NO! No, no, no. You are misunderstanding. I’m not courting _you_. Not that it’d work, you strike me as the type to like the, ahem. Less colorful variety.”

“…What?”

Tactus thought for a moment before speaking.

“It occurs to me not every idiom may translate over, cultural differences. Um, you strike me as a lover of women! Does…that make sense?”

Catra stared at the owl dead-eyed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“Yes. I’m a lesbian. That’s the word. I am attracted to women, now enough with the FUCKING prose, please!”

Tactus crossed his arms defensively, looking away.

“I feel need to remind you once again that I have not so much as seen the slightest trace of anything resembling feminine in years, to the point I may have forgotten that such words existed! So, forgive me for not being good at this!”

Catra waved her hand. She was tired of not getting direct answers, and not understanding things.

“Look look. Ok. Whatever. But why? Why the massage? Why the wink, and who are you courting?”

“I wanted to help you.”

His words bewildered her, which might’ve made her even angrier.

“What do you MEAN, help me?”

Tactus swallowed hard. His mouth drying up, despite never even opening his mouth. It was weird how such biological reactions would still occur, even when it didn’t quite make sense. But that was besides the point, he had been meaning to say this.

“Ok. On my homeworld, when you find that you and someone else are competing for the same individual’s affection, it is sometimes seen as honorable to benefit your competitor to encourage them to meet your ability and even surpass you. This ensures that the person being courted can have better overall options. It’s a courtesy so that we have less conflict and arrive to longer lasting relationships. It’s seen as better to lose out on a potential partner and gain two friends to eventually help you find the one you wish to be with!”

Catra’s head was doing loop-de-loops to try and understand such a culture, and what Tactus was trying to say.

“…So you’re into Glimmer, but also were trying to help _me_ get with Glimmer?”

Tactus nodded.

“Yes.”

There was dead silence as the feline looked the owl up and down. Hard as he was to read, he seemed totally genuine with what he was saying.

“…This is a lot to unpack.”

Tactus looked past Catra to the table.

“Would you like to sit down and discuss this properly then?”

Catra nodded, rubbing her temples. This was giving her a headache. She couldn’t tolerate how weirdly nice he was about all this. She expected jealousy, doing it for weird sick kicks, even some big elaborate plan for him to swoop in just to crush her spirit. But a person who was genuinely willing to help, despite going after the same goal? Just what in the fuck was this bird?

After what felt like an eternity, Catra blurted out a question that was weighing on her mind.

"How old even are you?"

Tactus paused, this was a hard question for him to answer. He looked down at himself and shrugged.

"Haven't exactly celebrated birthdays in awhile...Horde captured me when I was about 19, judging by my features I reckon I'm a very malnutritioned 26 year old? So there. That's about the best I'll get, though are ages aren't exactly congruent proportionally. We live to about 120 on average, 150 max, you?"

"Oldest person I ever met was some village elder that was pushin 124. On average we go to maybe 85, though we didn't exactly have many of those in the horde."

Tactus quickly did the math.

"That makes me about...18 if you're looking proportionally. Why? How old are the both of you?"

Catra almost reeled at those numbers. This 6 foot 4, eloquent as all hell birdman would be younger than fucking Kyle if those numbers were accurate. 

On one hand he was barely legal by their standards, on the other hand he had still lived longer then the both of them. Which explained why even with 6 years in a cell he seemed oddly mature, compounded by his haggard appearance.

Her brain hurt trying to make sense of it, and she decided that it might've been best to just move on. Such questions were better left to others to answer.

"....I'm just going to pretend like that part of conversation never happened, and get down to the real questions."

Tactus interjected before she could continue.

"May I ask a question? Another one besides this one I mean. You've been asking me so much lately and I think it should only be fair I know who I'm dealing with too." 

Catra needed a breather anyways, so decided to let him speak while she tried to think what next to ask.

"Fuck it, you get one. Shoot." 

Tactus looked past Catra towards the hallway, before leaning forward. 

"What is your relationship to her?" 

Catra leaned back, feeling uncomfortable. Turning her head away, not liking his eyes on her.

"It's...complicated. Also personal!" She snapped, turning back to him. Tactus chuckling.

"And the questions you ask aren't? I merely want to know if you have feelings for her." 

Catra crossed her arms. Mustering her best lying face, which was quite good on it's own. Looking Tactus in the eyes.

"Not in the slightest." 

"Oh?" Tactus went wide-eyed, staring back at her. Not actually fully believing her. 

"Is that so? Well then. If you'd excuse me." He says, standing up, putting on false confidence. Making slow strides with little bounces in his steps. Catra's previously smug grin turning to a look of distress. 

"I'm sure the Queen might like some help bathing, make sure she gets all the hard to reach spo-" The Force Captain's arm latched onto Tactus' wrist, holding him back.

'Gotcha' Tactus thought with a fair amount of satisfaction, almost even grinning. Looking down at the feline's face which was twisted in fury, before it slipped back into realization that she had given herself away.

"...That's as I expected. Force Captain Catra. Just testing you." Tactus remarks, sitting back down in the chair across from her. 

Catra sat there in disbelief, looking at her hand which had grabbed him. The feeling in her chest as her heart raced and slowed. A chill, like icicles piercing her very core. 

'Oh fuck'. 

“So then, I think it is clear we both have mutual feelings for the Queen, yes?”

Catra rubbed her shoulder awkwardly.

“What’s it matter? It’d never work out.”

Tactus scoffed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, I’ve seen the way she looks at you.” He says, catching Catra’s attention, but she didn’t look up at him yet.

“She’s always looking at you with this…I don’t know how to describe it. It’s this look of almost sorrow, like you’re so close and yet so far. It’s frustration and longing, and I think you might have a chance.”

Flustered, Catra lashed out.

“Don’t you give me hope. She’s probably looking for someone like you. Some smart noble who can give her people all the fucking power she could want! Not the person who practically destroyed her life.”

Tactus snorted, leaning in at the table.

“I just tell you what I see. Right now, I’m seeing someone different then you’re describing. I’ve known you for a short time, but in that time, you’ve proven to be a smart, capable, person. Fiery and determined. You crack-wise, but beneath all that there is a passion. List-less and cautious, but passionate all the same. It’s a very attractive set of attributes to the right person, and I believe that right person is in that other room.”

Tactus pointed to the room in question. Catra sat there transfixed. It wasn’t often she received compliments, let alone from someone who was intentionally trying to help her despite it being to their own detriment.

“Are all you noble types so adamant about trying to be good people?”

Tactus laughed.

“Let’s just say that you should be glad you got me instead of Decimus. Knowing that hothead he would have probably decided to fight you to the death when you tried to strangle me earlier.”

Catra, feeling uncomfortable at the memory of that moment from just hours earlier, tried to laugh it off.

“Hah, hah…yeah…”

Tactus noted her discomfort and shifted away from the topic.

“In all seriousness, took some time to focus on learning how to keep morale up during my training. Figured we were fighting insurmountable odds and it’d be useful.”

“And romance was part of that?” Catra asked, tapping her fingers on the glass table anxiously.

“Yes, actually. It was a bit of a cultural melting pot, so many races united to fight the horde which previously had been enemies. Lot of tension, jokes, humor, and a shocking amount of love. Always was a bit of a romantic myself, though never really was great at too much of the er, more intimate of moments.”

Tactus rubbed the back of his head, looking away.

“But no, falling in love was, painfully easy.”

Catra nodded, with a small shrug.

“I can relate. Not that I like to show it, I guess. Always worried that it wouldn’t work out, or that…but…yeah hard to build relationships with all the war planning.”

“Yes, of course of course…” Tactus’ gaze drifted off.

“She’s quite an amazing woman, isn’t she? That Glimmer?”

Catra glimpsed something in Tactus’ eyes that seemed so familiar. This tiny little twinkle he had that she knew so well.

“She’s got this optimism that just, gives you hope whenever you felt you needed it most, yeah?” Catra asks, Tactus pointing to Catra in glee.

“Yes! Exactly! She’s just so…entrancing. You both seem to share similar determination, but her passion is, different. She’s, got this kind of aura that puts you at peace.”

Catra snickered.

“Ok, maybe wouldn’t say that last bit. I’ve fought her a few times and she was pretty wild every time…Still. Respected her resolve, and overall guts. Once saw her take out an entire warehouse full of Horde Tech, filled with goons and myself guarding the place.” Catra took a quick glance behind her, before leaning in and beckoning Tactus closer with a hand. Whispering to him.

“Don’t ever tell her this, but truth is she wiped the floor with my ass that time, and it was one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen anyone do.”

Tactus cackled, his laughter turning into soft hoos as he wiped a tear from his eye. Catra laughing with him. 

“Oh I can imagine! My. I remember this one boy I had the biggest crush on when I was younger. He-” Tactus began, stopping when he noticed that Catra had already seemingly become bored with his story.

“…Boring?”

“Little…yeah. Let’s try to keep it to women. It’s more interesting for me that way…You totally had to have the hots for some…sexy.....bird ladies…” Catra found the words felt weird in her mouth, as if she had a rock or marble stuck. Deciding instead to replace any future images Tactus described with her closest equivalent.

“…Oh there was this one gal I fancied. When the sun glinted off her feathers it was like magic. Wonderful and kind. Her name was…Reba I think. It’s been a long time. I think she might’ve fancied me too, but different deployments. You know how that is, I assume?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Well she had real big…like just the biggest…forgive me if this may sound a bit dirty but she had the greatest set of wings I have ever seen.”

Catra seemed confused, as Tactus gushed. Looking back at his own wings.

“Wait…I have no idea what to compare that too. Is that like having huge jugs or a big di-“

Tactus grimaced and shook his head, waving a hand infront of him.

“Oh no no no, it’s not so crude it’s just…they’re so nice to be wrapped up in. Feels warm and cozy. Home was always cold, especially as we moved further north to meet the Horde. Forgive me, but I had hoped that if I were deployed with anyone it would’ve been her, lot of time spent just trying to keep warm.”

Catra smiled, chuckling fondly as she began to remember her own time with the Horde.

“I had a Reba too, but her name was Scorpia. I…” Catra paused as memories flooded back. Her eyes glazing over.

“Are you ok?” Tactus asked, placing a hand on Catra’s shoulder only for her to smack it off.

“I…I just remembered Scorpia. I need to apologize to her when I get back, I always treated her like shit but…she always looked out for me despite that. She always waited for me to make a move and I never did. I was always focused on the work, but she stood by my side no matter what. Least until she finally got fed up and ran.”

Catra’s gloom and self-reflection had creeped its way to her yet again.

Tactus scooted his chair over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“And you feel ashamed?”

Catra raised her brow.

“Yeah, of course I do! I mean, I always stuffed it down before now. Figuring if she was dumb enough to not run she had it coming but…god she just cared too much about my dumbass to do anything about it.”

“Shame is good.” Tactus affirms, shaking Catra softly.

“What?”

“I’m probably butchering this, but I remember a wise philosopher said something once along the lines of ‘Shame is not a lack of pride, or a lack of morality, but rather it’s source.’ You cannot take pride without feeling shame in doing what’s wrong. You can’t better yourself without feeling shame for what wrongs you commit. So, if you feel ashamed, then you’re at least getting on the right path.”

Catra had never thought of it in such a way before. For the first time in a long time, she actually felt like she could do better. There were all the opportunities that had arisen in the past, but the motivation was always hard to come by. Even now as push came to shove, she had been unsure of how she’d fare, but now. Now she felt like she could finally try to make a difference.

Still, there was more to ask.

“Thanks, Tactus……and I’m sorry but this has been bugging me this entire time.”

Tactus was ready for her, anything she could ask.

“Yes, Catra, go ahead.”

“…where the fuck do you get half this stuff?”

Tactus felt himself taken out of the moment of great progress they had.

“I…look. When you have an entire race of people that are all dramatic as all hell you find that half the books on anything from medicine, to cooking, to even a map-book very quickly become filled with everyone trying to one-up eachother on ‘whose most enlightened?’. Every book is philosophy for us. We needed to evolve long lives just so we could manage to do something in a lifetime without being stuck in long chats. Libraries were the worst.”

Catra cackled with laughter.

“God, I fucking bet!”

Tactus grinning wide as he continued.

“Oh, you have no idea! I swear, one moment you’re trying to find the recipe for blood pie and next thing you know you’re deeply invested in a full novel of one bird’s survival in the wilderness!”

Catra’s ear twitched while she was laughing, Tactus snapping to attention as he heard it too. The subtlest grinding sound just as the door to the hallway opened. Light bare footsteps pattering against the floor.

“Are you two finally getting along? I just heard laughing.” Glimmer called out, stepping into view. Wearing the robe she had been gifted by Tactus the day before, with her hair wet and straight. Being too short to put into a towel properly, she let it hang to air dry.

As she came into view, the strong scent of roses met Catra’s nose and she felt the tell-tale BADUMP in her chest that she was slowly getting used to.

Tactus turned his head away out of modesty, declaring.

“Yes. I believe we may have just become firm friends!” He says, reaching out a hand to shake Catra’s. Catra however couldn’t take her eyes off Glimmer in her robe. Tactus pulling his hand back in awkward silence.

“Oh good!” Glimmer says, strutting over to take her place at the table.

“What’s for dinner?”

Tactus suddenly shrieked in horrified realization.

“I FORGOT TO TAKE OUT THE PIE!”


	14. Plans and Pie

“Good news everyone!” Tactus announced, pulling the pie out of the oven. A faint scent of pork and spice accompanying it as the rust colored pie met the open air.

“I believe the pie is salvageable!” He called, placing it on the counter to cool. Catra and Glimmer sharing an uncomfortable wince with eachother from opposite ends of the table. The implications of its name being mildly unsettling at best.

Glimmer looked to Catra as if someone had just told her she had a terminal illness. Mouthing the words, ‘Blood Pie?’ in utter dread.

Catra shrugging and seeming to be just as confused with the Bird’s ecstatic delight with the idea. Glimmer clearing her throat and speaking up first.

“Ahem, Tactus?”

“Oh yes! Your dinners!” Tactus shouted, bringing their plates over, which surprisingly were still hot.

The food was not their immediate concern, but Catra dug in quickly, being particularly interested in the salmon on her plate. Hoping she would get full before Tactus started doling out portions of that horrifying ‘treat’.

Glimmer stared down at her meal, picking up a fork with some uncertainty at first, before feeling her stomach grumble. She was very hungry after all the energy she had burned, even if she hadn’t really felt it with all the stress they were under.

“Thank you Tactus, but you said that we’d discuss the plans over dinner, yes?” Glimmer prodded, debating on attempting to keep up the decorum of a fancy dinner her mother had taught her to do when she was younger. This was battle planning after all, and there was etiquette she was expected to undertake as queen now.

With a glance at her compatriot sitting across from her, whom hadn’t even bothered to use her knife. Spearing the entire salmon cut on her fork and eating it like it was carnival fare.

Following suit, Glimmer ignored the antiquated expectations of a battle dinner and just rapidly scarfed the cut of salmon down with the voracity of a starved hyena. The taste was simplistic, salt and pepper with a touch of lemon. Nothing to write home about, but in her hunger it tasted divine.

Tactus, breaking out of his mild anxiety driven stupor, joined them at the table. Pulling his chair out with flair and sitting down. Seated neatly in the middle of the table.

“Yes, yes. The escape plans. I have a fairly good idea on how we can all escape. I’m going to move slow and in stages so we all understand the basics of what will be happening, and so that you all can have input. That sound about par with your typical planning?”

Glimmer, was caught mid-swallow, unable to answer, Catra spoke up in her stead with her own opinions mixed in.

“Just don’t drag on too long, I wanna be thorough, but I don’t wanna sit through the entire lore of this place, capiche?”

Tactus crossed his legs, adjusting his seating position. After finally swallowing down her food, the monarch spoke first.

"We need supplies in order to break out. Weapons and First Aid supplies." 

"Glad you agree. Phase 1 of the plan is to get the two of you into the medbay. Yes, Catra?"

Tactus asked, Catra who sat with a dull look and one hand raised.

"Yeah, how the fuck do you plan on us doing that? Cause if you're our designated healer, then for us to wind up in the medbay kinda implies something bad enough has to happen that is, A, Urgent, and B, Would Probably be really Dangerous, and C, doesn't immediately help us get out of here."

Tactus grinned. 

"You are right on a few fronts but I planned around that. Tomorrow at 0600 hours a shift change will occur. If my calculations are correct, then the two clones on guard shift are both fairly green with the way things work. Skilled and trained, but not the best under pressure. We're going to fake an allergic reaction with this..."

Tactus reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a small handful of blue colored seeds, each of a similar shape to a sunflower seed. But little white specks dotted them like salt.

Glimmer and Catra ogled the handful of seeds in anxious expectation.

A few seconds passed before Glimmer broke the silence.

"Ok. What are those?"

Tactus crushed one seed in his hand, shelling it.

"Ditoro Pods, a native seed of my home and very tasty if you eat the seed alone. Supposed to taste like fruit to balance out meaty taste of blood pie." Tactus popped the seed into his mouth. Swallowing it. But held the shelled portions up.

"That's if you eat the seed alone, the shell however has side effects that most people, Horde included, are unaware of since my people typically serve them unshelled only. Would either of you like to find out?" 

Tactus held out the shells to either of them. But both showed considerable hesitation.

"Pass." Catra dryly asserted, waving it away. Glimmer nodding.

"Ditto"

"Very well then. " Tactus remarked with a shrug.

"Please do not be alarmed at what you'll see. I assure you the effects are very temporary"

He says, placing the shell under his tongue. His beak clenched shut and Tactus breathed deeply. 

The feathers on his body seemed to all tense and puff up. His eyes seemed to get swollen and watery, Glimmer gazed in horror as he practically transformed infront of her. 

Catra pulled her lunch away from him in disgust. It seemed to work, but she wished he hadn't decided to do this so close to her food. 

He stood up from his chair, his collar making coughing noises as he stood up. His face swelled up and Glimmer jumped up, worried that this demonstration had gone wrong.

"Tactus?" 

Tactus put a hand infront of himself, standing tall. Making the cough noise with his collar yet again, before speaking.

Only now did it click with Glimmer that him coughing through his collar made no sense.

"Perfectly fine Queen Glimmer. Just getting into the act." He opened his mouth, plucking the shell from his mouth. After a few deep breaths, his form returned to normal. The horrifying visage they had previously seen practically melted away.

Catra scoffed at him.

"You prick"

"Had me going there, so we know it works at least...." Glimmer breathed out in relief.

Tactus held up the Ditoro shell.

"Has a mild toxin that causes adverse effects, makes you look awful but you'll still be able to breathe. Just need to throw some flair in there and you can scare the guards. I come out hollering and kicking up a fuss. I freak out the newbies and that gets us to the medbay."

"So, we end up in a medbay full of sick clones and doctors?" Glimmer questioned, confused.

"We just fight our way from there? That outnumbered?"

Tactus waved the issue away.

"Medbay is tiny. Horde reserves their medicine for high ranking officers. Lower ranking clones get culled if they get sick. No illnesses going around lately, so very likely to be empty. Only concerns will be the two guards and the doctor. You wait on my signal and we can take them easy."

"Uggggh" Catra groaned. 

"Something wrong, Force Captain?"

Catra sat forward, speaking firm and direct.

"I know you princess types or whatever are all non-lethal takedowns, but I think we're past that point here. I'm not going to hold back."

Tactus cackled with laughter.

"Oh I certainly won't stop you from putting down some of these fascists so long as you don't judge me too harshly for doing my part."

Catra's eyes lit up in surprise, looking across the table expectantly.

"How 'bout you Sparkles?"

Glimmer sat in thought. She had wanted to uphold the values she had begun the war with, even to the bitter end. But she acknowledged this was far more dire than she anticipated. The Etherian Horde was one thing, but if Prime's Horde was the real deal, she may need to do a bit more than hand out concussions and knockouts. 

But the eyes of the two that sat with her at the table seemed almost acusatory. Not one to be swayed by peer pressure, or even be mocked for taking a moral stance. Glimmer remained firm but flexible in her stance.

"If it comes to it, I'll do what must be done. Even if it means getting my hands dirty. My people are waiting for me in Etheria and these monsters think they can just waltz past us, well they gotta get through the three of us first!"

Tactus hooted in surprise, clapping in admiration.

"Spoken like a true Aviarian! " he applauded, practically entranced by the fire in her eyes. Reminded of the will he saw in so many of his own people. 

"Bout time." Catra muttered, leaning back. Crossing her arms in smug satisfaction at Glimmer's 'change of heart.'

"Yes, yes. It's great, but Tactus. Please continue!" Glimmer pleaded, wanting to move on from this topic.

Tactus placed a talon on the table. 

"We're not going to be using this table much anymore, are we? Breaking out tomorrow, so...." 

He pressed his talon in and began to scratch the glass smoothly and carefully. Taking great pains to avoid any unpleasant noises. Mainly for the sake of his own sensitive ears.

Glimmer grinning softly. She was so sick of this place that even this tiny act of rebellion in defacing the table made her almost giddy.

Tactus carved a simple rectangular shape into the table.

"This is the medbay. Real small, as I said. Maybe 28 beds max. With the medical store room in the back. They keep vaccine samples back there along with vials of other medicines. We'll need the vaccines intact for future synthesis, just incase the Horde tries biological warfare later."

"Excuse me, what?" Glimmer quavered, taken aback by the sudden and very dark nature of what he had just reported. 

"Right. Sparkles here wasn't available for our previous conversation. You wanna tell her Doc, or should I?"

Tactus swallowed hard. He never liked being the bearer of bad news. 

"Prime's Horde follows simple tactics. They arrive in numbers and try to persuade the people with speech. If that doesn't work, they move onto bombs, disease, and ground troops. The Medbay has vital vaccines that we can synthesize. Give Etheria a fighting chance...the stakes here aren't just for our own sakes, Queen Glimmer. "

Catra felt a quiver run down her spine. She had heard some of this already but the way Tactus delivered it made it sound worse.

Glimmer’s eyes glazed over in shock. Scoffing at her horrible luck.

"Fate of the whole world again. I don't know why I expected less."

"If it makes you feel any better," Tactus began.

"We don't all necessarily need to get out of here."

"Stop it Tactus, Right damn now. We're all getting out of here." Glimmer affirmed. 

Catra shushing her.

"Wait, let him speak." 

Tactus' face softened with Glimmer's optimism, but he felt the need for realism.

"Your enthusiasm is appreciated, but we're doing something remarkably dangerous. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't mention this. But the containers we store vials in are specially made. They can preserve the samples for weeks, and can read the cures data. Doesn't store the data but it can help any scientist or physician worth their salt figure it out. Only one of us needs to make it out."

Glimmer threw her hands up. It was like talking to Adora all over again.

"There's no need to be so prepared to die! We've barely even touched the rest of this plan and you're already expecting the worst! We're not going to just give up on people here."

Tactus grinned softly.

"Wasn't planning on it. Catra, would you care to explain my reasoning? I feel you understand it, yes?"

"You want us to be strong enough to finish the mission and get out no matter what? Yeah?"

Tactus held up a finger

"Close. I mean to say we're prepared but still looking out for eachother. We're not going to give up hope for eachother too quick, but we still need to understand this situation is bigger than us. But neither of you two go martyring yourself on me, got it?”

“Same to you.” Glimmer shot back at Tactus without hesitation. Too used to a certain blonde’s tendencies.

Tactus ignored this, clasping his hands together.

“SO! We grab the vaccines, whatever medicine we can for our trip from the medbay. Might need to keep the doctor there alive. Need him mostly intact so we can scan our way through the locked door. We can deal with him afterwards. Then from there, we might need a chunk of some higher-level biomaterial to access the ships. Someone of a particularly high rank.”

Catra’s eyes lit up, a thought clicking into her head. An evil grin etching itself onto her face like a chesire cat.

“I think I might have an idea who we can take it from.”

Tactus would’ve met her grin had he a pair of lips to do so with.

“Oh, I know you do. We are very much on the same page.”

Tactus etched further into the table, drawing an odd little path from the medbay.

“In the event of a riot, all soldiers on a given floor rally to a choke point to wait out the prisoners or rioters in question. With the highest-ranking officer on a given floor leading them. We’re going to need to make our way to the same deck as the bomber bay. They’re almost certainly still prepping a few. Might not be armed just yet, but definitely fueled up.”

Tactus etched the path from the medbay to a small room. Etching little arrows on each wall of the room to symbolize that it moves.

“You’ve already taken those lifts, yes? Either of you happen to catch the code for the docking bay? If not we’ll have to beat it out of a guard.”

“OH.” Glimmer’s hand shot up.

“Yes! I remember it. The two guards were arguing over the lift codes. The code is…”

Glimmer paused. Realizing that she wasn’t entirely sure what the number was, the guards had been arguing back and forth over very similar numbers.

“It’s..” She stopped, biting her knuckle in anxiety. Catra snickered.

“It’s fine Queenie, we can figure it out la-“

“NO, I GOT IT!” Glimmer bickered, racking her brain to try to remember.

“OH. 8321 Dash 48! HAH. Knew I knew it!” Glimmer exclaimed with pride. Catra shaking her head and snickering.

“Dammit. I really wanted to beat one of these fuckers for info.”

Tactus cackled.

“Like we need a reason.”

“God, you’re speaking my fucking language birdbrain.”

“Good. I’d hope this collar would be worth something…” Tactus tugged on his collar for emphasis, eagerly awaiting the moment he’ll be able to remove it. Half wondering if he’d be able to pull the translator out so he wouldn’t have to wear the cumbersome thing anymore.

A thought flying through Catra’s brain. 

“So, Major Asshole shows up with a riot squad. We fight them how? We don’t exactly have weapons, Tactus. Not even magic.”

“Thought of that!” Tactus exclaimed, tapping the medbay supply closet again.

“Not only will we grab weapons from the guards we’ll take care of. But I might, and this is purely hypothetically speaking. But I _might _be capable of whipping something up that can boost our abilities.”

Glimmer remembered something Tactus had mentioned before, about a potion with incredible capabilities that only his family knew how to brew.

“Wait, are you talking about that Phoenix Fire stuff? I thought you said you didn’t know how to make it?”

Tactus lowered his head in shame.

“No. I can’t. But I know the Horde toyed around with some samples of it they obtained. They weren’t able to replicate it exactly, but they were able to figure out how to make some weaker versions of it. Call it ‘Prime’s Will.’ Ugh, appropriating jackasses. But I can adjust it for our physiology. Stuff is still pretty strong. I don’t understand the full energy conversion of magic, but there’s a solid chance I’d be able to make your magic temporarily run off the energy stored in the potions rather than the runestones.

“And that’ll just work?” Catra skepticed the logic.

Tactus shrugs in response, raising his hands.

“I have no idea. I mean. Hypothetically, Yes. Realistically? It all depends what I have on hand. I can probably make some offensive materials out of what’s in there, but I won’t know till we get there.”

“So..” Catra doubted, leaning back in her chair.

“We’re basing a ton of this plan on a big ‘what-if’.”

“Hah, no.” Tactus reassured.

“I have a secondary gambit. If we don’t find the right materials needed. Or say get rushed, we run a distraction. The Horde wants to keep Glimmer alive the most. No offense Catra, but a princess is typically worth more than a soldier, no matter the rank.”

Catra grimaced, feeling too many previous feelings sweep in. Glancing at Glimmer and looking down.

“Believe me, I know.”

“Sorry.” Glimmer replied with an uncomfortable shrug.

“So, that’s why you’ll be flanking them. Meanwhile, I’ll be pretending to hold Glimmer hostage. Acting generally crazy. I keep them distracted, stroke the Major’s ego. We run the distraction, and you travel along one of the pipes running across the ceiling.”

Catra rubbed her chin.

“Hmm, and from there I ambush them. Kill the major, and the rest scramble like bugs?”

Tactus gave her a thumbs up.

“Bingo. Nail him right in the skull. Those high rank officers tend to have the chip in the head. Allows them to transfer between clone bodies. You shatter that thing you never have to worry about that specific bastard coming back.”

“Ah.” Catra nodded. Remembering some of the tricks she heard Hordak trying with cloning new bodies. She had always wondered how that worked, so that was one mystery she could lay to rest.

“Hey Tactus.” Glimmer interjected.

“Yes?”

“Why do I gotta be the hostage here?” She asked, slightly offended.

“Cause if you were the psycho they’d just shoot me and ask you to kindly step down.”

Glimmer bit her lip.

“Oh.”

“Besides, I know the Major knows exactly how scary an Aviarian can be. Trust me on this. We want to keep him talking, and his ego is too big for him to not have his own little monologue ready.”

“Oh yeah, cause that’s totally unlike you.” Catra jeered. Tactus laughing in small hoots.

“Hoo Hoo. Got me there. But I’d like to think I’ve got mine prepared more out of boredom rather than ego.”

Catra grinned. It wasn’t often someone showed up who could take some of her insults with a laugh. Most of the people she met didn’t get it or got angry. Still, she didn’t want to get too far off track.

“So, let’s recap what we got so far. Fake our illness, get to the medbay, take out the doctor, loot the medical cabinet, big distraction and flank the riot squad…then we get out how again? Still waiting on that part.”

Tactus clapped his hands.

“Yes, yes. We fight past the Major and plow through that riot squad. Get to the lift, ride down to the docking bay. We’ll have maybe a few minutes before that gets swarmed with proper fighters. Most we might see is some engineers working on last minute repairs. If we got lucky and there’s enough materials in the medbay for me to make some offensive potions. We destroy the fuel lines and maybe rig some of their armaments to blow before we leave. Grab a ship, ride on to Etheria.”

“Woah woah woah.” Glimmer stopped him.

“How’re we flying the ship? I mean the rest of that, seems almost solid, but how will we fly?”

“Ships bio-locked. But aside from that you set a location and it takes you there on its own. The ones we fought back when I was a kid had manual control for more precise movements. We move quick enough and they won’t be able to mobilize their fighter ships and follow us. Other ships might tail us but we can get to Etheria before they’ll even get close enough to be dangerous. Everything else plan wise is up to you two. Because I do not know what Etheria is like. Comments?”

Glimmer let the plan sink in. It was certainly better than she could’ve hoped, and had a minimal but acceptable amount of risk. She wanted this to be a little fun, but most of all she wanted to get back to her people in Etheria. Complicated, but reasonably effective seeming.

Catra never liked too much planning that wasn’t hers. Faith in other people’s planning typically didn’t work out for her. But she didn’t have many other ideas herself. It even seemed to be almost well thought out. Suddenly she laughed.

“I just got it.”

Tactus raised his brow, confused.

“Got, what?”

Catra snickered.

“Your name. Tactus. It’s like ‘Tactical’, just heh, found it kinda funny…The plan’s sound. Better than I expected.”

“I have a suggestion!” Glimmer piped up. Tactus turning to her fully ready to hear any ideas.

“Yes, of course.”

“Ok. So, if we get the boost from the potions, why don’t we use that in tandem with the ambush plan? Everything to ensure we win, right?”

“OOOH. I like that!” Catra half-purred out.

“Agreed.” Tactus chirped.

“So, tomorrow…” Glimmer says, with some trepidation. She was excited, and anxious. On one hand she was glad to be out of here and home as soon as possible. But there was still the overwhelming concern of what she’d do when she got home.

There was so much they had just discussed alone that was going to be immediately necessary when she got back. It almost seemed silly to worry about personal issues at a time like this. But knowing that she had worse things to fear didn’t make her less anxious.

It just made her feel guilty about her anxiousness towards everything else. Like all the apologies she’d have to give her friends. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to face any of them after the harsh words that were shared and the ramifications of her poor choices. Dread and fear crept into her mind. Perhaps it was silly to be so worried about such a thing when tomorrow she’d be fighting for her life and flying home.

“Tomorrow we’ll be home…” Catra finished Glimmer’s sentence.

Just like Glimmer, Catra would have to face the music. Though her crimes were far worse. She knew that execution was out of the question for the princesses, but at the very least Catra saw herself potentially being incarcerated for the rest of her life.

Even if she did try to work to make amends, how long would she have to work to make things right? Would she even be able to in her lifetime? Would giving her life be what it took?

But there was another option. To run. Run for her life the moment they got back, try to find somewhere she could make a life for herself far away from all these confusing feelings and thoughts. Where she could feel safe and alone. No Princesses, No Romance, No Birds or Regrets. Dye her fur, change her name. To just run and live as best she could in whatever time she had left.

No. NO. That wasn’t the kind of person she was. She had to fight. To just eke out a life in solitude and fear was not how she wanted to live. She wasn’t one for honor or higher causes, but she was a very petty person. She’d live, if only to give Prime payback for ever having the audacity to threaten her existence.

“A new home…” Tactus murmured, in a listless state.

Tactus’ internal conflict rivaled theirs for only slightly different reasons.

He felt unsure, and as much as he wanted to be free there was the fear of what could go wrong. They might not have had enough medicine, enough materials. He could say the wrong thing, he might have overlooked something.

Even if this all did work, Tactus was entirely unprepared for life outside of the citadel. His entire life he had spent prepping for war, and had spent the previous 6 years in total isolation aside from the ‘etiquette’ training.

He’d have to adapt to a whole new life, a stranger in a new world, all the while devoted entirely to making sure Prime’s Horde wouldn’t ever have a chance to set foot on a single other planet.

Glimmer was the first one to realize that the others were in a similar state. The dead look in Tactus’ eyes and the concerned look that Catra had been trying so hard to suppress.

Standing up, she slipped into the space inbetween Tactus and Catra. Leaning in to try and hug the both of them as they sat at the table.

“Come here.” She cooed. She was so used to receiving love and affection from her homelife. She didn’t expect that the two of them had received much of that from anyone in years, aside from her in the past few days.

She was aching too, but she wanted to help. In the back of her mind, she was guided by a worried hope. If she was able to help these two now, she’d somehow be able to somehow find it easier to talk with Adora and Bow when she got back.

It was her own way of coping, and she figured they might as well benefit from it too. She hadn’t had many friends as a kid anyways, and although there was still so many complicated feelings with Catra, she felt she could at least potentially consider Tactus a friend by now.

Catra grit her teeth. Letting herself be taken in by the hug. Touch-starved as she was, this felt nice. Warmth and consideration from someone else for herself. The feeling was still foolishly hard to comprehend, but she latched on tight. Closing her eyes tight for fear she’d tear up again.

Purring softly in her embrace.

Tactus crooned and rested his head ontop of Glimmers. Feeling his eyes water.

Genuine affection and comradery? It was like a dream. His worries and anxieties of his future in a new world slowly satiated.

For a world to create people so loving and openly affectionate amazed him. His heart thumped in his chest as he let out a soft sigh. Hope filling his core for the unknown world, so far away. Another chance at life, a place to maybe settle down when this was all over.

What’d he do? Maybe he’d finally learn to bake properly and-

“THE PIE.” Tactus squawked loudly. Nearly deafening Glimmer and startling Catra out of the comfort of the hug.

Taken out of her moment of joy, the now frustrated Catra rubbed the bridge of her nose. She couldn’t believe her brief moment of happiness was just interrupted over this stupid pie.

“The pie should be done cooling by now!” Tactus exclaimed. Taking a knife and quickly cutting for slices. He was genuinely excited to see how it came out.

Glimmer wanted to be considerate, but she couldn’t help but still be concerned over the concept of a blood pie. Whether it was to play Devil’s Advocate, or maybe just to find out what she was getting into, she finally asked a question about it.

“Where’s the blood from?”

The tufts on Tactus head raised, turning his head to her.

“Native boar from my planet. Incredibly tasty, so much so that the Horde supposedly keeps a small stock of them. The dish may not look that appealing, but it shockingly doesn’t taste like blood.”

“Really?” Catra questioned with some serious doubt. She had smelt the iron earlier and it had almost made her sick.

“Oh yes. It’s actually supposed to taste like meat. It has some porkfat and oats, an assortment of spices. It’s shockingly nutritious and an overall delight. Then the Ditoro seeds ontop give a delightful fruity flavor to challenge the meat.”

Catra was curious, and as much as she wanted to pass. There was the oddest desire in the back of her head that wanted to see if it was almost as bad as she expected. It didn’t actually smell as bad as it did before, the spice in the air even almost smelled good.

Glimmer felt a twinge of relief. A meatpie was unusual for her, as she always preferred sweet pies. But at least she knew what to expect.

Tactus served out a slice to each of them, saving one for himself on a plate. He ordinarily wasn’t supposed to eat the same food he would give to guests, but he figured they were past that point. Besides, it was a home delicacy and he couldn’t help himself.

Glimmer and Catra exchanged glances of concern over the plates on the table. Glimmer was shockingly the braver of the two. Despite the menacing blackened color of the pie, she took the first bite. The smallest she could possibly take.

The taste was just as Tactus described. It was like a very iron rich pork taste, with a hint of spice. The piecrust itself rounding out the flavors to make the entire bite feel only slightly dissimilar from a very meaty sausage.

It was, not exactly the kind of thing Glimmer was deeply into. But she was thankful that it at the very least did not taste like blood. It was decent enough that she figured on the right kind of day she’d try again, but it was nothing special for her.

Catra on the other hand, doubled over after tasting. Tactus staring at her concerned for a few moments.

“Is it bad?”

“BAD?!?” Catra exclaimed, grabbing the entire pie and taking a larger bite. It had somehow hit some primal spot in the back of her brain. As foul as the thing had looked and even sounded, this was hitting every spot she could have hoped for.

“This thing is fucking amazing.” She gasped out, stuffing more of the pie into her mouth.

“I imagined that you’d like it. It’s really made for the more, carnivorous type. No offense.” Tactus responded, Glimmer waving her hand.

“None taken. I mean it’s good but, not quite doing it for me like it seems to be doing it for her.” Glimmer mentioned with a point. Catra having devoured the entire thing in seconds. Grabbing another slice.

Tactus smiled, happy that someone enjoyed it at least. Bringing the pie up to his beak and biting into the soft crust. He almost sighed in satisfaction. He hadn’t had anything close to real meat in years, and to have such a classic dish from home made him feel like a kid again.

Back home, it may have been a food made by commoners, not typically a food that royalty would eat. But he remembered the days traveling from village to village with his troop and eating the local fare.

What was once a food made out of necessity for a poor people tasted different to him. It didn’t taste like meat to him, or blood or like any normal pie. With the people at his side at that moment, with the plans they had waiting for them, it was a taste he had almost forgotten.

The taste of freedom.


	15. To Sleep Unwisely

“Achoo!” The Guard muffled his sneeze in his elbow. Immediately shuddering after he did. The Second Guard at his side shuffling away from him briefly.

“I must apologize.” He appealed, sniffling briefly, clearing his throat.

“I’m not sick, I think it’s just allergies, I was fine just a second ago! Honest!” He pleaded, concerned for his well-being. Sickness in the Horde was a great concern, even in it’s most mild of occurrences. With the close quarters such a thing could spread rapidly.

The Second Guard was concernedly staring at him, before putting his reasoning capabilities to use. It was true, that he was seemingly fine for the past few hours. It was only now that he must’ve had a reaction. As to what, he wasn’t quite sure.

“Yes, please excuse him Ma’am. We’ve never been quite sure how well Z-043 here’s genetics played out. Think someone might’ve dropped something in his gene pod during formation if you catch my drift” He quipped, putting a hand next to his mouth and whispering that last part to the Pink Monarch who had started the conversation. The Owlman standing next to her.

Glimmer chuckled awkwardly at the guard’s insinuation. Half-feeling bad for laughing since it wasn’t the Z-043’s fault. But she still wanted to keep appearing semi-friendly here.

She placed a hand on the underside of Tactus’ beak, lightly stroking under it with her fingers. Tactus tensing up slightly, even if he knew it was coming.

“Hah, heh…yeah. So back to what I was saying, I’m requesting this _lovely _bird’s services for the night. So, don’t expect him to be coming back to his cell anytime soon.”

Glimmer gazed up at him, reminded of a pose she had seen on a romance novel she had read when she was younger. Tactus refusing to look at her for fear he’d crack. Remaining stiff as a board as she practically hung off him.

The Second Guard nodded, not really caring about any of that too much, nor wanting to think about how that’d work. He just wanted the information to keep the notes tidy.

“Yes, yes. That’s allowed and expected. I’ll put in the word on the bird…Heh. Word on the bird.”

“Oh, thank you!” Glimmer gave a tiny little bow, looping her arm to catch around Tactus and spinning around. Pulling him back into the direction of the room.

“Wait!” Z-043, the Sickly guard called out. The pair stopping. Glimmer feeling a shiver run up her spine.

‘Please. I did not want to put that act on for nothing!’

“You’re a doctor or something, right bird?”

Tactus’ head spun around to look at him.

“Field Medic, Alchemist, Officer and Biomancer. So, sort of. We had to multi-task while leadin-“

“Yeah yeah yeah, I got it. But uh, any chance you could help me with my problem?”

Tactus looked to Glimmer, who gave a small shrug. As if to say

‘Whatever gets him off our back’.

Tactus unhooked from Glimmer. Walking back over.

“I suppose I could, just hold still.”

Tactus stepped forward. Looking the clone over, reaching out a hand slowly, letting the clone see that his hand was coming.

As far as they knew he was still collared and ‘safe’. But as his hand made contact, he couldn’t help but think about how much he wished to grip as hard as he could and shatter this fascist’s jaw.

Still, he was supposed to be a healer. So, he examined him over, looking into his eyes before deciding quickly.

“Hmm. Thin mucus, watery eyes. It’s allergies, almost certainly. Likely from the two new guests. Different dust and dandruff. I’d recommend either putting in for some Antihistamines or a shift transfer. No point in you being a guard here if you’d just sneeze and drip all over the place.”

Tactus determined. A little angry at himself for saying that, since the weaker the guards they’d have to fight on their way out the better odds they’d have. But it was on a reflex and without much thought.

“Oh. Uh. Thanks, I guess.” Z-043 remarked, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and looking away.

“As you were.” He commands, shooing them away. Glimmer roughly taking Tactus arm again and leading him back inside. Wanting to be done with this interaction as soon as possible.

The door shut behind them and Glimmer sighed in relief.

“Oh, thank god. Acting all flirtatious like that made my anxiety go through the roof.”

“Hey, don’t look at me sister!” Catra called out, reclined on the couch.

“Not like they’d have believe me if I did it.” She lazily defended, kicking her feet up and placing them on the backrest of the couch.

Tactus looked away from Glimmer. Clearing his throat before speaking.

“Thank you again. My cell is…less than comfortable.” Tactus thought, rubbing his side at the notion of potentially sleeping on concrete again. Remembering the discomfort of the uniform he had to put back on, he quickly began to undo it again.

“Don’t worry about it Tactus. Just-” Glimmer’s moment was cut off as she was distracted by him removing his tunic. As it went over his head, she almost wanted to laugh at how his feathers got ruffled by it. She was reminded of how a chicken looked after it sneezed.

She held back a snicker, before finishing her thought.

“W-we gotta look out for eachother and letting the guy who helped set up the plan to get us out of here sleep on a cold hard slab isn’t something we’re gonna just let happen.”

Catra’s foot wagged as she fully turned upside down in the couch. Legs resting over the backrest and her head dangling off. Almost carefree.

“Hey, we only got two beds, Sparkles. So, looks like Tactus is going to sleep on the couch.”

Glimmer looked almost offended at her statement. She knew Catra likely was just going to come over and sleep in her bed again. That was what she did the night before, and she wasn’t going to let Tactus just sleep on the couch when they had too big beds available. But a cunning plan crept into her head, that almost etched a devious smile onto her face.

“Tactus, you’re sleeping in my bed. Still be plenty of room, think of it like a sleepover.”

Tactus nearly choked at the insinuation. Catra flopping out of her seat and landing on all fours.

“I…but Queen Glimmer. I’m sure the couch will be more than sui-“

“That’s not a request. That’s an order. You’re sleeping in a bed tonight.” Glimmer asserted, poking Tactus in his fluffy chest. She had set the bait, and now for the bite.

Tactus swallowed hard. He wasn’t going to argue too much. He wanted to be courteous, but the thought of finally sleeping in a bed after all these years had him almost giddy. Though he was at least a touch anxious. He wasn’t quite sure if Glimmer was just expecting sleep, and he’d honestly prefer it to be just sleep.

Not that Glimmer wasn’t attractive, oh no. He just wasn’t sure if he was into that type of thing, with anyone really. She seemed understanding enough, he supposed, and would hope if it came down to it, she’d understand.

“Wait!” Catra shouted, getting up. Tactus saw the look in her eyes, and remembered how she was feeling about Glimmer. He felt similarly, at least so he thought. So, he understood how this might feel for her, were the situation reversed.

Catra looked down, not wanting to meet their gaze.

“I…Well, no offense Tactus. But Sparkles…Glimmer is the only person I fully trust in this place. So…If it’s all the same to you, you can have my bed. I’ll share a bed with Glimm-”

Glimmer put her hands to her cheek, gasping in mock surprise as if she had come up with a brilliant idea.

“No wait! I know! We can _all_ share a bed! No, I see what you’re saying Catra. It’s like you said the other night. We’re all safer together, right?” Glimmer repeated.

“I..” Catra nearly bit her tongue. This wasn’t ideal, but it was better than what she was expecting to come out of this.

Tactus stared in shock at Glimmer. She was, significantly better at manipulative ways than he expected. He almost admired it, but mentally filed a note to be wary of that in the future. Still, he was glad to have Catra there. He’d feel a little more comfortable with more people. It wouldn’t be far too different from his old days in the field.

Catra finally swallowed her pride and said.

“…Ok. But Tactus better be on the opposite side of the bed from me. Last thing I need is to wake up hacking out feathers.”

Tactus snorted. Glimmer smiling wide.

“Great!” She exclaimed. This was going to be the coziest night she’d probably have in years.

* * *

After some trouble with Blankets, and even a trip to the other room just to grab more, the three had settled into bed.

Catra lying on her side, to let her tail flow freely and hang off the bed.

Tactus across from her, sleeping on his stomach to let his wings breathe, and outstretched. Not fully closed, but still wrapping himself up in them in a more comfortable position than he’d have otherwise.

Then, snug as could be inbetween the two predators, there was Glimmer herself. Immensely satisfied with how this turned out.

Tactus’ claws clicked against eachother as he held his hands in an anxious way. Not sure what to say in the silence.

“Well this is…Safe.” He hesitated, barely sure if that was the right word to use.

Glimmer was so comfy, she didn’t even notice the look of immense hatred that Catra was giving Tactus from across the bed. She didn’t need say a thing, the message was more than clear.

She was angry that Tactus was here. Sure, they had a decent conversation earlier, but she wasn’t too fond of sleeping in the same bed as him. Even if he was an entire Queen away from her.

Still, at least she knew if she was there, they wouldn’t be doing anything, and as far as she was aware, he was there for the exact same reason.

Sure, there was all that talk about helping eachother out, but at the end of the day someone’s gotta win, and someone’s gotta lose. Far be it from Catra to lose willingly.

Tactus’ jaw clenched. He could feel her eyes staring at him, even when he wasn’t directly looking her way.

He just wanted to sleep in a cozy bed for once.

Glimmer however, spoke up.

“I have the ex-second-in-command of an entire army on one side with huge claws and is crazy fuzzy, and on the other side I have a field medic, who is also crazy fuzzy and has huge claws. This is probably the safest I can be right now.”

Glimmer thought about what she said for a few moments.

“I’m sorry, was that rude? It was meant to be a compliment.”

“No, no. I got it.” Tactus concurred with a small nod. Catra letting out a small harrumph and turning her back to the two of them.

Her tail curling around Glimmer’s leg reflexively under the covers.

It was going to be a long night. Her opportunity was gone, and some shuteye was all that anyone could want right now.

Glimmer was the first to fall asleep. Catra following soon after, to everyone’s surprise. Tactus, stared at the wall for what felt like hours.

His eyes drifting closed, plunging him into dreams.

* * *

“Tactus…Tactus…TACTUS”

Tactus snapped awake from his seated position at his desk. Old and made of oak. He had passed out in the middle of studying the day before. He looked down at his hands and desk, down at his biomancy work.

His eyes drifted down to look at his body. His feathers were lighter and fluffier. Newer. He was smaller than he previously was, his hand reaching to his neck briefly to feel it was devoid of any collar.

“Tactus, I’m over here.” The voice called again, it was only now he realized it was in his native tongue. He had become so used to the language that came from the collar and which he heard others speak, he had almost forgotten it.

He instinctively tried to speak with his collar but remembered he had to use his mouth. Had the dream really messed him up that badly?

“I’m…sorry. I must’ve fallen asleep during my notes.” He stood up from his chair, finally turning around to see the source of the voice. His heart nearly stopping in his chest.

There she was, illuminated by the light behind her and glowing radiantly as ever. The war had taken it’s toll on her, with gray replacing some of the brown of her feathers. But there she was. Queen Minerva. His mother.

She had actually bothered to see him herself this time. Even through such a long and crazy dream, Tactus hadn’t thought he had seen his mother in ages.

“Finally made something of yourself with all those notes?” She teased. Tactus looking down in shame.

“I…I’m sorry I was just tired from studying. I must’ve dozed off. It’s just, a lot to prepare for. War, the officer training and the practices.”

“Yes, yes. Well you’re nearly 13 now. Due to be a soldier any day now. So, I’d best get along to those studies. Hmm?” His mother raised a brow. The same brow Tactus had.

Though he had never met his father, Tactus could tell where all his looks had come from. He was nearly the spitting image of his mother, save a touch less purple.

Tactus bent his head down.

“Yes…I suppose you’re right. I need to get back to my work.”

His mother’s eyes seemed to pierce him, looking as if she was trying to determine if he meant his words. Before she let out a small hooting laugh.

“Oh hoo hoo, I didn’t just wake you up to send you back to your studies. Your older brother Decimus arrived. He said he wanted to have a bit of a visit with you today. Unwind. You’d best fly alo-Oh yes. _Run._ Along and meet him.”

“I…yes mother.” He nodded, holding back his emotions. He was a late bloomer; it wasn’t his fault his flight feathers hadn’t grown in yet. He had tried to fly regardless and merely crashed onto the marble floor a week before and broken his ankle.

He was lucky Talia was near with a remedy, or he’d still have the broken leg.

“Good lad. Now on with you. He’s waiting in the main hall.” She motioned, Tactus moving as she demanded.

Everything looked just as he always remembered it, a mix of marble pillars, gold and purple colors with hints of green. The Pillars etched with symbols to represent every kingdom which had allied itself with Aviaria. The Cathartidaes, The Accipitridaes, The Corvus and finally the Bubo-Strigidaes, the kingdom that had been part of Greater Aviaria the longest.

Murals of all the great legends lined the walls. Avians that had given their all or made the greatest impact to their civilization. Tactus nearly shed a tear, feeling a strange sense of loss that he couldn’t quite place.

He passed by the painting of the family tree in the hall. Stopping to look at the blotch where his dad was supposed to be, finding it was still empty.

He was never told quite what had happened, and his mother never spoke of him. Though he supposed with all the war going on, it wasn’t too important. Not that his other siblings quite knew their parents too well either. Decimus’ father had been a Guard that died long ago, and Talia’s father was a scribe that was a touch mad, died under a collapsing bookshelf he had overfilled.

As for the other siblings, Tactus had never met them. One of the consequences of your mother living a little over 800 years. Still, wasn’t the time to fret. Decimus was here. Tactus never quite liked Decimus all that much, but it was still courtesy to at least see what he had to say.

Finally, he had arrived at the hall. There Decimus stood, in his full military dress as he often waltzed around in. He was a bird of order and rigid dogmatic adherence. The most progressive thing he had stood for in years was integration with birds of other species ever since the Horde’s arrival.

The previously exclusionist bird had recognized the need for help from foreign sources and during the great unification he had been a full supporter of such aid.

Still, there were rather unpleasant tendencies he had held onto from a more, _unpleasant_ period.

“There’s my little brother! You need to straighten your walk. Look like a vulture with your head so low. Walk with pride, dammit!”

Tactus straightened his stance. Walking over.

“Hello Decimus, how have things been?”

“Oh, about as good as a war can be. Which brings me to why I’m _really_ here. You’re going to be a soldier soon too. Heard you decided to go down the Medical Officer path, yes?”

“…Yes sir.” Tactus nods, Decimus was always someone who looked down upon such a field. Not because of lack of importance, but simply because he loved his fair share of weapon usage too much to ever be willing to forgo them and complete training. Decimus placed an arm around him.

“Yes. I heard. Despite what you may think, I am proud of you Little Brother. But…” Decimus paused, and suddenly Tactus felt a sharp pain, feeling a blow impact into his stomach and doubling over, coughing as Decimus held him up.

“You’ve had trouble flying lately, haven’t you?”

Decimus let go, letting Tactus fall to his knees, looking up, and for just the briefest of moments he could swear he saw his own mother looking down at him from the upper floor. Completely emotionless.

“I…I haven’t developed my flight feathers yet…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. That’s poppycock. Even if you can’t fly you should at least be able to fight dammit. Seen that punch coming a mile away. Now get up. No brother of mine is going to crumple like a napkin under pressure.”

Tactus slowly got up to his feet. At this age Decimus still well towered over him. Decimus got into a fighting stance infront of Tactus. Raising his hands and curling them into fists. Looking him dead in the eye.

“These Horde fuckers don’t have claws, least not yet. They throw punches, not slashes, and if you wind up in range like this you better either learn how to fly fast or learn how to fight. Fight or Flight. In your case you only got one option right now, so come at me.”

Tactus curled his own claws into fists, trying to mirror Decimus’ pose and went in for a punch. Decimus raising his leg and kicking Tactus in his chest. Knocking him off his feet onto the hard marble floor with a painful smack.

The General did not hesitate to chastise his little brother for his failure to anticipate this.

“I Said YOU GOT CLAWS, and _they_ don’t. You try to punch and he’ll kick harder than I did and crack everything you’ve got. Use your own legs too, and be ready for anything they’ll throw at you. They might even throw YOU. Now GET UP.”

“I-“ Tactus stammered.

“COME ON. People are dying, get up!” Decimus snapped his fingers. Calling upon the powers he developed from his bloodline connection. A burst of flame erupting from his finger tips and creating a ring of fire, which encircled them.

Like that, the stakes were raised. The younger bird finding himself in a dojo, surrounded by a fiery wall to punish him for his failures.

Tactus felt his heart drop. Standing up on his feet quickly. This didn’t seem right. There was the startling sense of Déjà vu but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it, this felt wrong. He looked at the fires that circled around him. Fear seeping into his very soul.

“Strike me dammit!” Decimus shouted, catching Tactus’ immediate attention again. Tactus, fearfully lashed out with a swipe. Decimus grabbed his arm in a crushing grip. Tactus felt his arm shatter in multiple places as he was pulled in, Decimus’ fist slamming into his face and knocking him back to the ground.

Tactus gasped, feeling the surge of pain rush through his body.

“Don’t you cry. Pain is temporary, but Victory is forever. We can heal that in a night, but if you back down you’ll carry that shame for a lifetime. Now get. UP.”

Tactus rose up again, shaky on his feet.

“It…It hurts.”

Decimus placed his foot on Tactus broken arm, who nearly screeched out in pain, before Decimus reached out and clamped his mouth shut in his iron grip.

“Don’t you dare. Tactus. I’m not your brother anymore, I’m the guy looking to kill you. Do not show weakness, do not ever falter. If I see even a single tear, I swear I will tear out your throat. You show weakness, you let the enemy know too much and they will exploit you and end you. Do you understand me?”

A sudden gust of wind dissipated the flames around them. A massive thump behind Decimus caught the Eagle-Owl’s attention. His head turned around to stare into the very furious of eyes of a certain barn-owl. She stood well over him, and despite her elegance her fury came out terse and clear.

“What, in the fuck are you doing to our dearest Little Brother, Decimus?”

“Teaching him how to survive, Dearest Talia.” Decimus asserted boldly and without fear.

Her eyes narrowed with rage. Like lighting she struck, clawing long and hard across Decimus’ face with such immense force as to throw him to the ground. 

“I don’t know what I expected of you. I hear Decimus had arrived and what do you do? You pick on Tactus, _again._ With all your stupid bravado about glory and perfect soldiers. He is a boy, Decimus, and you shall carry that shame on your face. If you try to heal that with any potions, especially mine. I will ensure that more than just your skin is cleaved off.”

Decimus panted, clutching his face and rising from the groynd. Despite the pain and grievous injuries. There was still a hierarchy of merit, and Talia grossly outranked him.

“Yes, Ma’am.” He choked out.

“Now get out of my sight. I have to tend to our brother’s wounds.” Talia waved him off, Decimus walking off in shame. The near etherial Barn Owl's gaze softened as she helped bring Tactus back to his feet.

“Are you okay?”

Tactus shook his head, tears welling up and dripping down his face.

“No.” He meekly chirped. Talia plucking him off the ground to carry him off to her workshop.

“Come now, I’ll fix that arm right up. I’ll even show you how to make that potion. I think you’ll need to learn that type of stuff more anyways.” She consoled, giving him a soft smile.

Tactus sobbed, clutching her tight and holding his older sister close.

“Thank you……Thank You…”

* * *

“Thank you…Thank you…” Tactus muttered, suddenly sitting up and finding himself back in the room.

It had just been a dream, an old memory like a ghost still haunting him. A bit different than he remembered, but it was still there. He reached a hand up to his face and found he had been crying in his sleep. The spots just under his eyes were soaked wet.

He looked to his side, spotting the sleeping form of Catra, but Glimmer was gone. An indentation of where she had been.

Had he really slept so hard he hadn’t felt her move? He scanned the room, spotting a light just ever so slightly visible from a crack in the bathroom door.

Feeling that Glimmer had gone to the restroom, he wanted to lay his head down and try to just go back to sleep. But he heard a tiny quiet sob echo from inside. He paused, unsure if he had heard it or not and listened carefully. Hearing a sniffle come yet again.

He sat up, trying very carefully not to disturb Catra’s slumber. Shifting his weight slowly and standing up. Making his way to the bathroom door.

He stood infront of the near inch of steel, and lifted a knuckle up, half-debating with himself the entire time as he raised it to the door, but just before he could knock it slid open. Catching him off guard.

Glimmer, half-dazed, eyes red, nearly walked right into Tactus. Broken out of her stupor in fear and covered her hand to suppress her own yelp.

The two met eachother’s gaze and Tactus stared concernedly down at her.

“Are y-“ He was suddenly grabbed by his shoulders and pulled into the restroom by Glimmer. The door shutting behind them with a thunk. Glimmer turned around, gripping the sink anxiously.

“Tactus…am I a good person?” She asks, her voice quavering.

Tactus’ eyes narrowed.

“You've given me hope and kindness when no one else did. You’re planning on bringing this bird to a whole new world where he can start anew. You seem to care a lot about your people back home. I’ve known you only briefly, but I’d say yes.”

Glimmer laughed uncomfortably.

“Yes..I suppose you haven’t known me for long.” She says, having a hard time looking at herself in the mirror.

“I…Made some awful decisions back home. I haven’t been showing it, but in all honesty. I’m terrified of going back.”

“Glimmer.”

She shook her hand.

“I know it sounds crazy, but the things I did. It started all this. This entire invasion is my fault and it’s because I didn’t listen to my friends, I didn’t trust them. I’ve always been impulsive and stupid.”

She buried her face in her hands. Seeing her grief, Tactus decided to reach out to her for once, instead of letting her reach out to them.

He wrapped a wing around her, pulling her into a hug.

“I’m sorry.” She cried out, hugging back.

“It’s ok. We’ve dumped a lot on you lately, it’s time you did a little opening up. What’s wrong?” Tactus reassured, looking around for somewhere to take a seat, and choosing to sit on the edge of the tub. Glimmer took a deep breath, rubbing the tears out of her eyes and joining him. Her throat felt dry and she wasn’t sure of herself. Tactus wrapped his wing around her again, wanting to encourage her.

“Just start wherever you need to, ok?”

“I’ve…been having these dreams. That I’m just in all this…it’s not quite water. I think it’s ink or just…darkness. I’m swimming and all I hear is my friends from back home. They’re crying and yelling at me. It’s just so many moments I regret. Conversations. I just, feel like I let them down. Like if I had only listened to them, we wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have caused all this.”

“Do they care for you?” Tactus blurted. Glimmer stammered, caught up in answering such a question.

“I…I hope they do. After all this.”

“Hope? They’re your friends, were they not? You made a bad decision, but was it out of malice?”

“No!” Glimmer defiantly shouted. Looking down again.

“I..I was mad they didn’t trust me. I thought we were closer but…I understand now. I was too blinded by my insecurity. I was so mad at them taking charge when I was so sure I was right.”

“Hmm.” Tactus considered.

“Where did the insecurity stem from, do you know?”

Glimmer rested her cheek against Tactus’ side.

“God, where do I start? I was a lonely kid, lost my father so long ago I can’t even really remember his face. My mother was overbearing and I never really got out much. When I finally started to lead, she always came down hard on me. Rarely ever trusted me or put faith in my judgements.”

Tactus felt a twinge in his heart as she spoke. The melody of her words being so familiar.

“When she passed, I had to take up her mantle, and the only two friends I ever really had both seemed to manage just fine without me when there I was. Sitting in a castle, _alone....again._ Then there was all the stories of Dad and Mom being so great. Then Bow and Adora did just fine. Didn’t need me dragging them down.”

“And you felt like just a burden…” Tactus remarked. Glimmer suddenly feeling something wet hit the tip of her nose. She looked up and noticed his eyes were watering.

“Tactus?”

“I...I just understand too well what you went through. We can discuss that later.” Tactus rubbed his eyes, Glimmer was now concerned for him too.

“Are you sure? You look like you need some release too on all that.”

“I’m…well I’m not fine. I haven’t been fine for a long time. I’m just high functioning at best. What I’m trying to say here is, that I don’t know these people you were friends with. But if they care for you at all, they’re waiting for you back home. Knowing you, as little as I have. I’m sure they are. But, ignoring all logic, Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon.”

Tactus paused, suddenly standing up infront of her. He felt that in order to make his point as clear as possible, the dramaticism that flowed through him at any given moment demanded that he stand for this.

“I will be at your side, every step of the way of fighting the Horde, and if you have any particularly bad ideas I will be sure to tell you.”

He bowed his head. Glimmer stopping him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to bow to me Tactus. You never did.”

“No. You don’t understand. I don’t bow because I have to. This bow is out of respect and admiration, for someone I care for deeply. I know this isn’t quite the best place to have such a talk but…” Tactus voice trailed off, he stood straight and turned around. Trying to think of the right words.

Finally spinning back around as they entered his head.

“If there are any of my people left alive, I want to make it very clear. I give you my word that they will be your allies, your battles will be our battles. Your enemies our enemies. But most of all, I hope that the future that awaits us will be one of peace and understanding.”

Glimmer smiled, standing up and wrapping her arms around the large bird.

“Ya know, you didn’t have to say all that to know we’re friends, right?”

He ran his hand through her hair, softly stroking it.

“Oh, I know. I just wanted to make sure you knew."

Her gaze turned up to the owl with that same soft smile that always made him feel a warmth in his soul. 

But he could never escape the nagging sensation in the back of his head. The one that made him feel guilty for even thinking of taking a single moment away from a task that benefitted more people than just himself. Lest his guilt consume him.

He cleared his throat, averting his gaze and changing the subjects.

"Now come on. We’ve got to rest. Big day tomorrow. Escape day!” Tactus declared. He was anxious, but excited.

Glimmer shook her head with a laugh.

“Right.” She affirmed, opening the door. Stepping out only to be greeted with something she should’ve seen coming.

Taking up the entire bed, was Catra. Who had spread out and lounged in the middle of the bed on her back. Tongue slightly lolling out and a soft purr filling the room. Glimmer let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”


	16. Hericide, The Cure for Tyranny

“HELP. COME QUICK!” The owl shouted, rushing out of the prisoner’s quarters.

The Two Guards on duty were alerted. One rushing over, but the other’s pace was slowed by a slightly different walking pace. The owl hadn’t realized it when he first called, but when he saw the guard’s pace, his heart sank. A deep uncomfortable realization struck him.

It was him, the Old Guard that Tactus had known well.

He wasn’t supposed to be here today. But puzzle pieces slowly put themselves together in Tactus’ head.

‘Wait. If he’s here that means he’s gotta be picking up someone’s shift. Which means that someone wasn’t able to do it…by the phoenix no…’ Tactus remembered the guard with the allergy from the night before.

‘..Oh no. He was going to pull a double, wasn’t he? He wasn’t able too and now…Oh I may have royally screwed the pooch on this one.’

The Older Guard shouted.

“What’s wrong kid?” He asked, making his pace and trying to keep up with the newer stock. A green guard that was still gaining the ropes.

Tactus, suppressing any worries about how this could go wrong, went right along with the plan.

“The Two Guests are having an allergic reaction! We need to get them to the infirmary now!” He shouted, leading them forward and through the doorway.

The younger guard ran forward in a panic, and the older hobbled at an even brisker pace.

The scene was set, dirty plates were on the table, and both Catra and Glimmer were sitting there. Each making mock convulsing motions. Foam spewed from Catra’s mouth, shocking even Tactus at her capabilities to perform. So much so, that he admittedly felt a little concerned as her eyes rolled back in her head.

Glimmer’s cheeks had swollen and grown puffy, and she let out a hacking cough. A trick she had learned when she was young. A bit of sugar to thicken the saliva in her mouth and make the coughs sound really raspy and ill. It had worked on her mother for awhile before she had realized when Glimmer was around 9 that she was incapable of actually getting sick.

“We need to get them to the Medbay for Antihistamine Injections before they go into total shock! Help Me!”

Tactus shouted, rushing to pick up Catra, who was thankfully lighter than Glimmer. Heavy for him, yes. But manageable. He carried her bridal style, though her head was tilted back. Her hand reached out and lightly squeezed Tactus’ wrist. Lightly just to remind him she was still mentally there.

The Younger of the two guards was hesitant to touch either of them but the Elder pushed him forward.

“Come on Tank-Born. Pick that Lady up. We gotta get them to the medbay now.”

“Yes sir!” He shouted with an affirming nod. Picking Glimmer up in a fireman’s carry. Placing her on his shoulders with ease.

“Now get a move on to the lift. We don’t have much time, YA!" He shouted, slapping the other guard on the back and prodding him forward. Tactus rushing down the hall with him. Despite his leg, the Elder found himself able to keep up with the two of them.

“Come on! Double Time! Lives on the line! If my busted ass can keep up, you’re too slow!” He shouted. Able to keep pace all the way to the lift and being the one to open the door, since the other two had their hands full.

The group stepped on, The Elder punching in the codes for the medbay.

Tactus heart was racing. He was anxious. It was one thing to have to fight one of these new guards, but the old guy Tactus had known for years. He was still working with the rest of them and horrible by proxy. But even when he had been fighting, as Tactus remembered him so long ago, he wasn’t even that bad as a person.

Sure, he was Horde, which was inherently a disgusting genocidal and imperialistic ideology. But, Tactus remembered that as far as commanders go, this guy was a bit of an anomaly back in the day. He was fair, he was merciful. He didn’t poison water supplies or kill civilians. He even took prisoners and treated enemy combatants with enough respect to not shoot them while they were surrendering.

A low bar by far. But even a little mercy like that stands out compared to how the rest of the commanders acted at the time. Then there was the downright almost friendly nature he had taken with Tactus since he had arrived. The bird knew it had to be an act, but to keep it going so long confused him. It was some supposed dedication to such beliefs. As much as Tactus hated the Horde, he oddly felt a sense of, well not so much guilt as it was reluctance for what was going to come next.

The plan meant fighting and subduing any Horde Soldiers by any means necessary in the medbay. If it meant killing him, Tactus had to be ready for it.

“Know what caused it? The reaction?” The Younger guard asked, wondering if he could get any more useful data for a report.

“I’m not sure. The food had been cleared for allergens, so I have no idea what could have caused it.” Tactus responded quickly.

“Really now?” The Younger guard couldn’t quite believe it.

The Elder squinted at the Younger guard, skeptical.

“I’ve known Tactus since he could barely reach up to my stomach. He’s collared, and before he wore that thing he was a helluva medic and officer back during the Aviarian Expansion Effort. They still teach you that in the tank, newbie?”

“Wait, the Aviarian Expansion? That 20-ish Year War with the Birds?”

“Where did you think a big-ass birdman in a collar comes from? Honestly. No sense in you, newbies. He’s been in that thing since before he was able to reach my lowest rib, and got the medical knowledge to boot. If he says he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know.”

The Eldest Guard vouched.

Tactus couldn’t believe it. Well, he could. But he was thankful it was happening at least. Almost as much as it made him dread what was coming next even more. 

Catra wished the Ditoro seed was actually killing her at that moment, as she hated hearing anything even close to sappy. Let alone hearing anymore praise for Tactus.

Glimmer on the other hand, was feeling a similar sense of uncertainty with things as Tactus. This was going to be mildly awkward, if not at least a little darkly humorous when this guard realized he was helping them escape later.

“Thank you, sir.” Tactus nodded with a fake smile.

“No prob kid.”

Finally, the lift stopped. The two guards, the owl, the cat, and the queen departed. Quickly finding their way to the medbay. The doors opened, wafting the smell of antiseptic out to greet them.

Catra nearly gagged, convulsing involuntarily from the smell. Feeling the Ditoro shell under her tongue nearly slip down her throat. With a careful flick she resettled it. Gripping Tactus tightly once more. They were so close now.

The Doctor inside, another clone as to be expected. Wearing a visor and reclined back in a chair at a desk, suddenly stood up.

“What happened?” He shouted, rushing over.

“Bird says it was an allergic reaction to something.” The Younger Guard announced, placing Glimmer in one of the many cots inside the very small area. The beds lined each wall, leading to the back storage just as Tactus described. Empty, aside from the doctor in question.

Tactus placed Catra down in the second bed. Glimmer slowed her motions, lying still in the bed despite the awful symptoms she displayed.

“By Prime! We’d better move quick. I’m not nearly prepared for a dissection today!” He shouted, rushing to open up the back storeroom.

The Two guards stood at each side of Tactus, and both Glimmer and Catra briefly made eye contact with him for confirmation. He widened his eyes for barely a second to give them the cue.

Now was the time for action.

It only took a few seconds. Both ‘afflicted individuals’ spat out their ditoro shells.

Tactus lunged forward, slashing the throat of the younger guard with his claws. Cleaving out a sizable chunk of his jugular and trachea, making the newly arrived clone’s neck look like a sausage that someone had bitten into from the side.

Blue blood oozed from him and quickly coated his chest, Glimmer grabbing a nearby medical tray and slamming it over his head. Not realizing Tactus had already dealt with him. Staring at the rapidly dying clone in horror. She was no stranger to violence, but this was still a shock to her.

Catra leaped from her bed, grabbing a scalpel off a table and rushing toward the Doctor like a cougar.

Tactus quickly turned his attention to the older of the guards, who in the commotion, had reacted somewhat slowly, only just reaching for his baton.

Tactus bounded forward, one arm reaching to disable the Guard’s attack, gripping the wrist and crushing it. The second hand going for his throat, not slashing it, but instead gripping it tight into a crush. With Tactus’ right leg coming into a kick at the back of the Guard’s weak knee. Toppling him over.

The Doctor turned in fear, spotting the leaping catwoman. Quickly finding himself pounced on.

“FUCK YOU.” Catra shouted, plunging the scalpel through the Doctor’s visor and deep into his eye. Piercing straight through and riding home to his brain. Causing him to shake from shock. Catra standing up and delivering a swift kick to his head.

Glimmer, horrified at just how quickly things got violent, stared momentarily at the guard on the floor next to her. Whom had passed out from blood loss and sure to bleed out. Hopping off her bed to assist Tactus.

He had pinned the old Guard to the wall and was choking him in the corner.

He had longed for years to watch the light fade from one of these bastard’s eyes, but this wasn’t the one he had hoped it’d be. Staring into those green eyes, practically pleading to him. 

Tactus felt a surge of guilt. Struggling with himself. He felt he had a moral obligation to put down every single one of these clones. But he couldn’t ignore how different this one had been. There was something about this old feller that Tactus just couldn’t let himself sit right with killing.

He knew he was going to regret this, and already hated himself as he was doing it. He loosened his grip, to give the clone some air. With a quick glance he noticed a single vial of lidocaine on a nearby counter. Hating himself for being grateful at ‘such luck’, he grabbed the needle’s worth and pressed it into the clone’s neck. Doing the math roughly in his head as to how much was necessary to just put him under.

Not bothering to be entirely precise though, he felt he was already being far too nice as it was. Quickly administering the dosage in barely a second and a half since he had decided to do it. Watching the old man’s eyes flutter shut, and letting him go.

Catra, may have still been kicking the Doctor’s corpse, but Glimmer had seen Tactus do the whole thing.

“You all done with those two over there?” Catra asked, finally satisfied after a proper amount of kicks. Tactus turned his head, locking eyes with Glimmer briefly before turning to Catra.

“Yes. All combatants neutralized.” He states, standing up. Glimmer choosing not to say a word about what she had seen, least not yet.

Tactus was covered in blood from the first clone, mainly coating his hands in the blue ichor. His feathers were ruffled from the attack, and he looked unhinged. His looked wide and oddly focused.

True, Glimmer herself had been a fighter and kicked her fair share of butt, but she hadn’t seen someone move the way Tactus had. When he tore out the first clone’s throat she was reminded that despite all his intelligent and almost posh decorum, he was still a giant bird of prey. Those hands that had helped her heal still ended in such massive claws.

She might have to reevaluate how she saw Tactus.

Catra too was covered in blood, and she strode over with a swagger to her walk. Wonderfully delighted with Tactus.

“Good work. Figured you for a candy-ass when you talked about that ‘lack of weapons’ crap, but you actually did pretty well! Clawed that fucker up good.” She remarked, inspecting his handy work.

Tactus chose not to respond. Looking down at the blood that coated him. It wasn’t the first or last time he’d ever be coated in blood. In combat he had been covered in far worse, especially during battlefield surgery. Instead of revulsion, he was struck by the compulsion to clean himself off of such filth.

“Catra, would you kindly get to work opening that storeroom door? I believe they have some stuff we’d find useful. Including some sterilizing agents, I believe I might need right now.” He requested. Ripping the sheet off a nearby cot and draping it over the now corpse of the first clone. Not wanting the blood to spread too far.

“Did you really have to tear out his throat?” Glimmer asked, rubbing her own neck uncomfortably as she stood up off the bed. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to do much and had gone for a non-lethal approach of the metal tray before she had realized he was basically already dead.

“I’m an owl. I go for soft spots and tear flesh or I break bones. It’s just what I _do_.” He casually replied. Preferring to keep things simple and not think about it far too much.

“Yeah, while you’re doing that. Can you help me figure out this door?” Catra called out. She had some trouble understanding the interface needed.

“What is this? A hand scanner?”

“Yes, it is, you just need to press his right hand into it.” Tactus called, ripping the now soiled remnants of his uniform off. Happy to be rid of it as his wings stretched once more.

Glimmer following quick, not wanting to look back at the corpses. It shouldn’t be affecting her so much, she had seen bloodshed, and fought countless horde soldiers. She hadn’t ever truly tried to act with killing intent, maybe broken bones, concussions, or hell maybe even paralyzation in some cases. Maybe it just never occurred to her whether any of them had ever died from any actions she took.

Thinking about that possibility just made things worse and distracted her. But now the nagging thought clouded her mind. Why should she feel guilt? She wasn’t entirely sure if she did. Many had been trying to kill her or others, so if she did end up killing a few unintentionally, surely, she was still better as a person despite that?

She tried to be a good person, but certain measures needed to be done. Even she knew that. Catra didn’t seem to have any moral reservations with anything like this, and Tactus seemed amoral. But there was that strange action Tactus did just moments before. She wasn’t sure exactly what he had done, but based on the look he gave her, it was almost as if he had done something he wasn’t supposed to.

Was he actually guilty about killing the clones, or had he actually done something to spare one of them? She still wasn’t entirely able to read him and that unnerved her.

Tactus got closer, and all color on his face seemed to drain as he realized the clone Catra was holding was dead.

“Is…Catra did you kill him?”

“Yeah? What of it?”

Tactus sighed deeply, nearly running a hand through the feathers ontop of his head, had he not remembered they were covered in blood and refrained. This would make things difficult. Observing his body.

“We needed him alive…dammit and you broke his visor as well. You couldn’t have picked the _other_ eye? Or waited for him to open the door first?”

Catra glared.

“I thought you said we could get through most biolocks with just a scrap of someone high ranking enough?” Glimmer asked.

“Not this one. Needs someone alive to open the door.” Tactus said, briefly considering going back to the knocked out elder clone in the back corner.

“YOU MEAN TO TELL ME” Catra began, already quite furious.

“THAT A MAJOR PART OF THIS PLAN HINGED ON KEEPING HIM ALIVE?”

Tactus glared back.

“I did specify that.”

“NO. You said, ‘_Might’_ need to keep him alive. Not, ‘this man’s survival is crucial to our entire fucking plan.’”

“Wait,” Glimmer spoke up, thinking this situation over.

“How does the machine know he’d be alive?”

Tactus laughed.

“Oh, that’s easy. It reads him for a heartbe-” Tactus’ eyes widened.

“Oh, Glimmer you magnificent genius!” He exclaimed, pulling the Doctor over.

“Catra, hold his hand up to the panel, Glimmer over here. I have an idea.” He enthused, laying the Doctor’s body flat, tearing open his shirt to leave full access to his bare chest.

Catra averted her eyes from the Doctor’s shockingly toned chest.

“Ew. We don’t have time for you two to ogle some man-tits.”

Tactus shook his head, beckoning Glimmer over.

“How strong are you?” He asked bluntly, Glimmer immediately confused.

“I…Pretty Strong I guess. Why?”

“Good. Hollow bones mean I can lift a fair bit and grip hard, but putting out physical force repetitively is a tad difficult. Now interlock your fingers like this, and place them inbetween his pecs. Lower part of palm down.”

Tactus guided her hands, getting behind Glimmer.

“Arms locked, now we’re going to push in. About two inches down. If you hear a cracking don’t stop. Just keep going and go steady with pushes. We’re going to try to get his heart pumping.”

“W-what?” Glimmer stuttered.

“What? You can’t start a heart back up like that!” Catra hissed. The concept sounded primitive and brutal. The only thing that could restart a heart was maybe a precise shock from a mage or a machine like the Horde had back in Etheria. To manually attempt to pump a heart sounded downright barbaric.

“Watch us! Glimmer. Get pumping.” Tactus commands, standing up beside her as Glimmer worked.

Sure enough, she heard a crack as the clone’s rib’s broke.

“Keep going! That’s normal!” Tactus shouted, helping to hold the hand against the door panel as the machine read the hand.

Glimmer worked, breathing hard as she kept going despite the anxiety brewing in her chest. This was horrific. She was trying to pump a heartbeat out of a corpse just to get through a door.

“This is never going to w-“ Catra began pessimistically. But as if the world wished to prove her wrong as usual, the door panel finally beeped in confirmation. The metal doors sliding open.

“HAHA! YOU DID IT GLIMMER!” Tactus shouts, grabbing Glimmer and giving her a hug. Unintentionally causing blood to smear on her. The poor Queen was barely able to refrain from screaming. Though as unpleasant as it was, she supposed blood was bound to get on her eventually. Still, she didn’t have to enjoy it.

“Er, thanks Tactus.” She muttered out awkwardly. Catra being the first to walk in.

It was a simple storage room, shelves going up to the walls, with a terminal, some medical testing and potion brewing materials sat on a desk at the opposite end of the room. A small cluster of Personal Protective Equipment lined one of the first shelves. A sink next to the door.

Tactus quickly bounded in after seeing the glint of light from inside catching his eye.

“Ooh ooh! Ok. Here’s where things get fun. First things first.” Tactus chirped, reaching for a sanitizing agent, a clear substance in a vial which he poured out over his hands. Turning on the sink and letting himself wash some of the blood off.

Glimmer ungracefully scooted in next to him to get some of the blood off her as well.

“Mind passing that sanitizer?”

“Cowards.” Catra leered, looking at all the many vials of potions on all the walls. There weren’t any weapons as she was hoping for, and the batons the guards were carrying weren’t her style. But she saw something poking out on the Doctor’s hip.

She crouched down, moving a scrap of cloth out of the way and spotted what look like a pistol in some kind of holster. She pulled it out slowly, and sure enough it seemed to be some kind of energy weapon. An electric symbol on the side, it was white and green, matching the horde color aesthetic

The trigger guard was oddly large, and it felt lightweight. Like it was made of plastic or some type of polymer. Catra adjusted a tiny dial on the side, which had an indicator next to it. What Catra could only assume was a power setting.

She had trained with a rifle not too dissimilar back in Etheria. Though it was never really her style to carry a weapon like this, she figured it’d be better to bring it along as a heavy hitter. A little surprise for anyone who is dumb enough to fuck with her right now.

After some proper sanitization, Tactus cracked his knuckles and finally took it all in. Grabbing some small containers for vials.

Deciding on a smaller one. Barely an inch thick, 4 inches wide and 3 inches across. It had just enough room inside to hold all the vaccines and was small enough to be easily carried on any of their persons. There were a few other containers available, even a small satchel shockingly enough.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Tactus took the satchel. He’d need something a bit more casual to carry around some of the containers in.

“Alright troops. I need vaccines and raw materials to give to your botanists in Etheria.” Tactus gave the smallest container to Catra, and the slightly larger of the two to Glimmer.

“If we split up, we can get more done. I’ll be managing the primary healing potions we’ll need and working on making the Booster potions. Glimmer, you’ll be grabbing raw materials. They should be bagged and in a big white chest. Second shelf on your left. Try to go for seeds, but if you can’t, go for leaves.”

“On it!” Glimmer shouted, grabbing the container and rushing off.

“What’ll I be doing?” Catra speaks up, looking at the tiny container.

Tactus stepped closer to her, looking her dead in the eyes.

“The most important job. Getting the vaccines. Red case on the wall right wall. Chilled, can’t miss it. It’s where they keep their most important curatives. Grab two of everything if you can, one if you have to.”

Catra looked down at the container in her hands, staring back up to Tactus in a stupor.

“You’re trusting me with that? But…” Catra started. She was probably one of the least trustworthy seeming people she could think of. The horrible things she had done back on Etheria, a worthless enough person that her only friend had abandoned her. Then the overly emotional mess that she had been these past few days, spilling her heart out left and right.

“Catra. You’re almost certainly the fastest of us and most agile. If the distraction with the riot team doesn’t go well, you’ll be the one who has to survive and get out of here. You understand me?”

“Why. Why me?” Catra couldn’t comprehend it. Between the three of them, she was the least important. She knew that, everyone knew that, even the Horde knew that.

“They may be most willing to kill you on sight, but something tells me you’re not an easy person to hit. I think you’re exactly the person we need for this job. If we can’t break out together, I think you’d be the only one of us actually capable of making it back to your world and delivering this. I don’t know what kind of missions you undertook, but soldier, this is the most important mission you may ever undertake. Do you understand that?”

Catra felt a tremble in her throat. It was weird, she had never had someone put such faith in her, at least with stakes like these. She had messed up so much in the past, that this meant much to her. Keeping as stony of a face as she could muster, she found herself saluting the bird. Despite knowing she almost certainly outranked him.

“I won’t let you down.”

“Good.” Tactus grins, turning around.

“I have potions to brew, hopefully we’ll be strong enough to get out of here soon enough.”

* * *

Catra rushed to the red container, opening it up and reaching a hand inside. Feeling the cold air force her hair to stick up.

The inside was a vast assortment of colors mixed with vials that looked like plain water. Each was marked, and Catra simply filled the container up with vaccine after vaccine.

It was crazy to think that in her hands she was holding the future for Etheria.

Her, of all people helping to save the world, when it wasn’t an awful long time ago she had been trying to end it. All that time fighting, and Adora wanted her to join the ‘good guys’.

She almost laughed. This was such an absurdly good act, she might be able to at least make up for all the war crimes. Though if she didn’t, she could hardly imagine what else would work.

What else would she have to do? Save a couple orphans from a burning building? Volunteer work in a hospital? Maybe she’d put on a clown costume and go entertain the kids. No, SICK KIDS. Like, Deathly sick. That’d do it.

‘Ugh, thought of being so nice is almost making me sick’ Catra thought, suddenly feeling a sharp pain in her hand that made her lurch back. She coulda swore she just burned her hand on something, but how could she burn her hand in a freezer?

She looked at the tip of her finger where she thought she had burned herself. It didn’t look cold, so it wasn’t freezer burn. If anything, the spot was devoid of any ice or even water. It was actually warmer than the rest of her body.

Curious, very curious. She pushed some vials out of the way and looked around for the culprit, spotting some mysterious purple vial. It was cloudy, seeming to shift and move around inside the glass. It didn’t quite look like the rest of the vials, it seemed older somehow.

But the way it glittered seemed so oddly enticing to Catra. She carefully reached out to grab it yet again, and bizarrely it felt cold. In her grasp the mysterious fluid seemed to shift and move crazily and aggressively.

“Hey T-“ Catra looked back, wanting to shout to Tactus for questions, but he seemed to be having a conversation with Glimmer about something. Yet this vial seemed so oddly transfixing. She stared down at it and something about it made her feel thirsty, almost as if it were calling out to her.

“Catra? Got everything?” Glimmer yelled. Catra’s attention with the vial was broken, and she crudely put it into the vial container, despite it not fitting quite right. She sealed it, the thought of the mysterious potion completely out of her head, as if it had never entered.

“Yeah! Cleaned it out.” She shouts back, rushing over to the two of them.

“What’ve you two been talking about?”

“Oh, Glimmer here was just informing me of the people in Etheria I might be able to find assistance with.” Tactus explained, as he lightly spun the potion’s holder, trying to get a nice even boil. He turned to Glimmer briefly.

“I really must chat with that Perfuma woman you mentioned. I’m sure she’ll be a great help with those plants.”

“Oh, I’m certain of it. Give her a couple nights and we’ll have enough of those crops to heal an army.”

“After, we get…you said Bow, yes?”

“Yes, Bow.”

“After Bow’s fathers help me print and distribute the instructions on making the healing potions. Plenty of work to do once we get to Etheria, eh Catra?” Tactus asked, Catra looking over his shoulder.

It was an odd setup, he seemed to be letting some filthy gray potion drip through an odd strainer into a second potion, which had a bluish tint.

“Huh? Yeah. Yeah. Lot to do.” Catra quickly scooted next to Glimmer, whispering in her ear

“Hey, what the fuck is he doin?”

“Barely understood what he said myself. Said he had to ‘cut the potion to make it drinkable’, no clue what that means.” Glimmer whispered back, not entirely sure why they were whispering.

It was made even more pointless as Tactus had heard them. He was prone to overfocusing, but he still had remarkable hearing.

“I’m cutting that bastardized version of Phoenix Fire, ‘Prime’s Will’. The filth they make is strong, but it’s coded for different biology. It’d be poisonous to us if we tried to take it, not being Clones after all. BUT. If I cut this stuff, I might be able to give us a general energy boost. Combined with this bottle of Override”

Tactus tapped the blue container with a claw.

“Should allow you two to tap into any magical powers you may have, regardless of any interference to power supplies.”

“Never had powers, what’ll it do for me?” Catra questioned, crossing her arms.

“Well, anyone in your family history who did? Cause if so, maybe.” Tactus shrugged.

“Never met them either.” Catra’s eyes narrowed, but Glimmer spoke up.

“How do you know this will work?”

Tactus looked at the final potion, and felt somewhat satisfied with it. Pulling it off the rack and staring at the new creation he had just made.

“You want the truth? Cause I’m not going to lie.” He warned, uncorking the top and standing up.

“I have no idea.” He confessed, immediately taking a swig from the mixture he had just made, making Glimmer recoil in concern and shocking Catra slightly.

“Fuck, man.”

Tactus coughed, swaying slightly and nearly falling to his knees. Glimmer and Catra quickly catching him under his arms.

“You ok?” Glimmer asks, Tactus gagged, his face scrunching up in disgust.

“Ugh, it burned on the way down. Tastes like metal.” He tried to stand, his feet feeling oddly stiff, and his wings throbbed for a few seconds, before a wave of energy struck him and relief flooded his senses.

“Oh my.” He muttered, getting his hand free and rubbing his legs. He no longer felt any pain, and his legs felt fuller.

“My atrophy is gone, and I feel…” He blinked, Glimmer gasping suddenly as a visual change seemed to happen.

“Tactus, you’re…glowing!”

Sure enough, to Tactus’ surprise he seemed to have a purple glow envelop his body. His feathers gaining an odd new sheen briefly, and his feathers became more vibrant. The color quickly died, but Tactus looked different, younger almost.

Tactus rubbed his hands together, feeling them slightly smoother. Less cracked but still rigid and firm. His wings had plumped out and no longer seemed as near paper thin as they looked in his haggard appearance. They were still slightly shorter than they were supposed to be, but he seemed almost whole again.

A jailbird no more, he beamed with an elegance that suited the posh individual that they had become accustom too. This was how he was always meant to look.

“It worked!” Tactus cried out in delight. Catra realized that she really needed to learn to stop being so surprised at all this type of thing around these noble types. Miracle’s seemed to follow them.

The Owl passed the leftover potion to Glimmer, who stared at the solution nervously. She saw the reaction it had in Tactus, and was somewhat worried what’d happen to her. Taking a sip, she understood what he meant.

It burned, and the taste was metallic, with this strange hint of almost mint or some kind of menthol that accompanied it. It was a disgusting feeling, which seemed to lick and scratch all the way down into her gut.

“Ugh, it’s like if someone tried to serve peppermint schnapps in a copper mug.”

“Hmm. Copper…yes. Good taste. Wonder if it has Clone blood in it, it tastes like Copper. The hemocyanin that makes the blood blue carries copper instead of iron.”

Glimmer gagged, Catra nearly retching.

“Tactus. Sweetheart. Why the _FUCK_ would you not tell me this _before_ I drank it.” Glimmer raged, steam practically radiating off her, she was so disgusted at the concept. She was starting to glow purple as well. The accompaniment of the potion made her skin seemed to clear up, a pimple that she had developed from stress under her chin disappeared entirely. Her hair grew softer as if she had conditioned it perfectly.

Her knees, which had never been the best, felt like she could run for days. Then there was a familiar warm feeling that she could feel, it was magic flowing through her body. A lot of magic. She hadn’t felt a magic high like this since just after she assumed control as Queen.

“Sorry! I hadn’t considered it until just now.” Tactus shrugged, grabbing the vial from Glimmer and passing it over. Catra, was momentarily distracted by Glimmer’s sudden glo-up. Feeling her heart stir in her chest.

“Looking good Sparkles…” She complimented, taking hold of the potion, looking down at its swirling blue contents uncomfortably. There wasn’t a whole lot left after the other two took their swigs, which meant this was the last of the experimental potion.

The thought of it either being Clone Blood, or worse, like Peppermint disgusted her. Still, she had seen how it affected the other two. This was going to taste terrible, but if she was going to fight, she’d want to at least be in top shape and look good kicking Clone ass.

Ignoring the taste, and drinking it like Whiskey, she swung back the little bottle’s contents. Seeing the same purple glow envelop her. Just as it had done to her comrades, her appearance improved.

Her hair and coat grew silky. She felt her claws harden and strengthen, the ache in her feet from walking on metal dissipated, and her teeth grew whiter and sharper. Finally, being worthy of the title “Pearly Whites”.

Tactus was impressed with the results, but Glimmer’s eyes lit up for a significantly different reason. The cat standing before her didn’t seem like the same cat she had been trapped with or fought against for the past few years. This was the cat Glimmer felt she had only seen in dreams, the one that radiated confidence and killing intent that made her little heart soar.

Catra felt amazing. Then with a lanquid little stretch and a slight purr to her voice, she excitedly declared

“I don’t know about you two, but I feel fucking great. You two may be used to playing hero, but me?”

Catra pulled out the pistol she had taken from the doctor’s corpse, strutting towards the exit, flicking her tail back and forth.

“I’m gonna fucking make this look good.”


	17. Cuckoo Bird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (QUICK PSA: 4/3/2020)  
Hello, this is the Author speaking! For those of you who are unaware, I recently commissioned some art from "Clxwningaround" on Tumblr for "Flying The Coop". The newly made Cover Art can be viewed in the Chapter Summary of "Chapter 1". I posted it on tumblr awhile back, but I know not many of you follow me on there so I thought it'd be best to notify the readers here about the addition of the art! 
> 
> I can be found on Tumblr at "BluestYeehaw42". 
> 
> Now that the public service announcement is over! Feel free to enjoy this chapter of "Flying The Coop"

The Combat Medic examined the potions and gear he had grabbed. A few potions for quick sealing wounds, rapid bone recovery, saline solutions, two tourniquets, immunoboosters, a dispenser for medical grade superglue, multiple bandages, A sling and a small foldable bonesaw. It was energy based, which meant that it could cut through a whole lot more than just bones if need be, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to break his vows to refrain from using weapons.

Sure, he could likely justify its use, as it was technically a tool of his trade. But still, cheating his vows in such a way sat wrong with him. Perhaps it was foolish to hold tight to them even now, but he was never much of a direct fighter.

His vows stipulated that he never doled out undue harm to an enemy or use weapons for explicitly violent purpose. He could take a pistol and use it to hammer a nail, but if he were to lift that pistol up to end someone else’s life he would be treading on his vows as a medical officer.

It was oddly contradictory, in a way. Fighting was fine, and even killing was expected. He could heal others, which could act on his behalf and fight too. Assist in weaponmaking or repair in dire situations, but he himself was not allowed to use them. He could mislead, he could deceive, and using potions and his claws was fine. Those were all tools of the trade.

The words were vague on how he could use those potions, but he had personal standards of action. Standards which made him ashamed of thinking of using that bonesaw as a weapon, even for the briefest of moments.

“You ready yet birdbrain?” Catra asked, cocking her head to the front door. She was annoyed that they weren’t quite ready yet after her little spiel before. She was casually gun twirling her little pistol around before stuffing it down the front of her pants.

“No, almost. I just need to be absolutely sure before we proceed.”

“No offense, but mind hurrying up a bit? I doubt we have much time left.” Glimmer nervously stated, she was keeping her eyes on the front door. Tempted to try to summon her weapon for some form of comfort, but was worried the energy signal might set some alarm off.

She could feel her magic in her gut, she had the energy to do it, and knew it could come in an instant the moment she’d need it. It was calming to know she had it as an option, even if it wasn’t the _best _option. Though after these past few days of feeling powerless, options felt good.

“I just want to make sure we’ll be prepared for anything…” Tactus posited, debating on bringing a scalpel. He had his claws, but a nagging suspicion made him concerned what might occur if something happened to him or his hands. He tossed it into the bag and situated the medicinal potions in the bag next to the container for raw materials.

Yes, this would be suitable. But there was one last thing he had to check, he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he was absolutely sure.

He returned to the Doctor’s corpse, checking his visor one last time. It was broken beyond repair, but there might still be some parts to scavenge from it. It was doubtful he could figure out how to make it work, he was a medic and not a tech. Still, more resources the better.

“Yes. I think we’re ready for phase two.” Tactus declared, stuffing the visor in his bag.

“That’s the one where we run a distraction, with a riot team and kill Major Asshole, yeah?” Catra quizzed, raising a brow.

“Correct.” Tactus nodded, looking to Glimmer.

“As said before, I’ll pretend to take Glimmer once we make it to the floor where the bomber bay is…”

“Then I crawl along a big pipe and blow the Major’s brains out, make sure to shatter the weird chip in his brain so he doesn’t just get a new body. I remember it.” Catra affirmed. Glimmer showed some concern, glancing at the cold bodies of the clone guards. As lifeless as they too would be if the plan failed.

“How do we know they aren’t already onto us and have a firing squad out that front door?”

“Doubtful, we reacted so quick none of them were able to radio it in or set off any alarms. The Horde is good, but they aren’t that smart. But…if you’re so concerned feel free to open that door.” Tactus casually stated, Glimmer guffawing.

“And get _KILLED _if they are there_?_”

“We went over that in briefing, Queen Glimmer. You are priority number one for the horde. Hence why I’m bothering to use you as a fake hostage later. They’ll hesitate to shoot me just because they might still want to try to get me to make Phoenix Fire, and sadly Catra…again no offense when I say this…is no longer useful to them. Hell, I think they might’ve executed her today if we persisted any longer.”

Catra’s eyes widened.

“The fuck? They were just gonna kill me? They made me go through all that bullshit for info, faked a promotion, all just to kill me?”

Tactus seemed surprised at what she implied. Most individuals who had taken Compliance didn’t remember a whole lot of details afterwards. Her will must be unnaturally strong, and it’d be something he’d have to investigate with the cat later.

“The fact you remember any of that through the ‘Compliance’ is impressive. But if they went through that, then perhaps I’m wrong and they just wanted a puppet leader to take control of the Etherian Horde. Not that it matters now.”

Catra crossed her arms, she wasn’t sure how to feel about that. On one hand she would rather die than help these assholes significantly, but on the other hand she felt insulted. She never did think highly of herself, so she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that Prime’s Horde didn’t either.

Still, she was the one carrying the vaccines right now, which even if Tactus was buttering her up, she was still surprised he’d ask her to do it. Tactically, it did make sense in a weird way. If he was the medic then Prime’s horde would likely assume he’d choose to carry them, a switcheroo to prey on their expectations.

A brilliant idea suddenly struck Catra, her eyes lighting up with mischievous intent. Tail flicking around as she spoke.

“Hey Tactus, does Compliance need to be ingested or will it work if it say, just hits something’s skin?”

Tactus tilted his head, not fully paying attention.

“Well maybe, if there were a high enough concentration and the heart rates were elevated enough to transport it through the body quick en- OOOOH” He snapped his fingers, realizing the plan Catra had in store.

Glimmer caught on too, throwing a compliment Catra’s way.

“Oh, I get it! We distract them, you splash them, and we have our own small battalion to help us fight our way to the bomber bay! Its brilliant!”

Tactus conferred.

“Absolutely wonderful planning, Force Captain…Hmm. Just occurred to me we’ll need to give you a new rank since you won’t be Horde anymore. Nevertheless! I’ll grab the requested materials; you help Glimmer check the hallway.”

“On it.” Catra replied, gripping her pistol tight and meeting Glimmer at the door.

The two waited for a few seconds looking back at eachother in confusion, Catra cocking her head to the door.

“Go on.”

“..I…Still me? You got th-the gun!” Glimmer exasperated.

“You know how to use one of these?” Catra retorted, Glimmer shrugging.

“How hard can it be? Just point and pull the trigger!”

Catra rolled her eyes.

“That’s why you don’t get the gun. Now open the door.”

“You do it!”

“I ain’t fucking doing it, you heard what he said. You’re _important_, now open the fucking door Glimmer!

Glimmer felt her heart thump harder and harder in her chest. Her hand inching toward the door. She felt an odd burning sensation in her body that she couldn’t quite shake, she felt like she was going to throw up from anxiety. She couldn’t take the anticipation of it all anymore.

She slapped the button on the wall, the door opening for a split moment to reveal an empty hallway before she slapped the button again, forcing the door shut.

“We’Re GoOD” her voice cracked. Catra staring at Glimmer with a mix of disbelief and concern. Glimmer was ordinarily more put together than this.

“You uh, you okay there, Glimmer?”

“I’m FiNE…I’m fine. I just…” Glimmer flapped her hands, looking back down at the bodies and grimacing.

“I’m going to be honest with you Catra. I’m terrified. I can feel my magic returning to me, but I’m so worried about using it and giving us away. “

Catra squinted, responding quick.

“Well, just don’t use them. I wouldn’t think it’d be that hard.”

“It’s harder than you’d think!” Glimmer protested, looking down at her hands, thankful that they still were normal. No light or anything.

“I’ve had powers my entire life, daughter of an angelic being and all! Powers come naturally as your funny little claws do. It’s hard to just…avoid using them…when I was really little I used to teleport whenever I got stressed.”

Catra snickered at what a funny image that must’ve been. Glimmer’s mother being horrified as her daughter kept teleporting all over.

“Sorry, just…god if your mom wasn’t immortal, I can imagine that probably took years off her lifespan.”

Catra had spoken before thinking, the words barely leaving her mouth before her guilt had set in. Seeing Glimmer’s face harden as the catwoman realized what she had said.

Catra rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Fuck…I don’t…I don’t say this often but I’m sorry. I’m stupid, didn’t think…and”

“Don’t.” Glimmer tersely growled out. She wasn’t feeling good right now anyways, and she didn’t want to think about all that.

Catra averted her gaze in shame. Maybe Glimmer was right about shutting up. She wasn’t quite sure if she could even form the right words now anyways, and the look of anger Glimmer had shot her made Catra remember just how awful she was.

She couldn’t blame Glimmer, and with how much help she had received these past few days, she had almost forgotten how thin of ice this entire relationship was between the three of them. She didn’t feel like she belonged, with how noble the other two talked and held themselves. Even despite how kind they had seemed, she was so used to manipulation she wasn’t sure if she was even capable of trusting people. Plus, she was so prone to it herself she didn’t even blame or get angry at the idea that people would hate or distrust her anymore. It was just how her life was. Why should she expect more or less?

“Nevermind. Forget about it.” Catra held her tongue.

Unaware, Tactus jaunted forward with two large bottles in hand.

“Stole their whole stock, drank some of the antidote too just incase! Ready when you two are!” He happily replied, handing the two bottles to Catra, who took them roughly. Looking at the clear fluid in the two massive canisters, each was easily around 24 ounces worth of the potion. Considering such a small amount had done it for Catra, this would be more than enough to work.

“Thanks.” Catra dryly said, trying to figure out how she’d carry them. Spotting a little carabiner ontop, latching it around her belt. It was awkward, but it’d have to do for now.

Making eye contact with Glimmer briefly before the two looked away again. The gaze too painful to maintain. Glimmer was still angry, reminded again of the person she had felt such confusing feelings for.

How awful she could be, she wanted to believe that Catra didn’t mean it, and even with everything that had happened recently she was at least somewhat inclined to agree. But it was hard to shake off the knowledge of who a person once was and how they acted. Cruel and Evil as Catra had proven herself to be back in Etheria. She couldn’t forget, nor could she feel like she’d ever be able to truly forgive Catra, and Catra knew that.

Oh, how awful it was, to finally wish to do better and ascend only to realize just how far one has fallen. In some cases, even dug lower and past the bedrock, seeming to try to claw her way into the depths of hell itself. She wished she could turn a blind eye to it all now, but in her current situation it’d only be harder to ignore and suppress.

“Come now!” Tactus cried, marching forward. Ever unaware of the situation he had missed, too infatuated was he with the search for potions.

“We must hurry! I may or may not have left a small amount of caustic materials ready to blow on the medical storehouses’ bunsen burner.”

When her brain had translated Tactus’ sentence into a comprehensible series of words, Glimmer screamed.

“YOU WHAT?!”

Tactus led the two of them away, popping noises could be heard from the storehouse.

“Couldn’t just leave them with a full stock of harmful or helpful materials, now could I?” He exposited, dragging the pair to the lift.

“Smart Move, Birdbrain.” Catra muttered. Admiring the decision.

“You could’ve moved us out of there a little faster!” Glimmer shouted, furious that he practically dragged his feet to get them out of there.

“Oh please, I know the time it takes for a few chemical reactions to occur.”

A warning klaxon blared in the hallway, the Lift glowing an almost blindingly green hue.

“Besides, needed it to force an override of the lift and rally the riot team. Get some payback and a much-needed DNA sample from a certain military officer.” Tactus casually mentioned, turning around to face the pair and backing into the lift. Cocking his head.

“Come on now! Off we go!”

The two Etherians sharing a mildly worried glance before joining him.

“Wait, if we’re riding in a lift the whole way down how the fuck do I get to one of the pipe’s subtly without them noticing and blasting my ass to kingdom come?”

Tactus punched in the codes as Catra talked, telling her the rest of the gameplan as the numbers went in. Not even requiring a bioreading due to the warning alarms.

“I’m going to give you an opening to, you’ll be right behind me, I’ll have my wings open nice and wide. It’ll be a bit of sleight of hand, I’ll keep them distracted, you use my wings as cover and climb up there. Just stick close to me, and the opening will come when I shout something along the lines of ‘Don’t fuck with me, bootlicker.’”

Catra chuckled. “Oh, I’ll remember that alright.” She nods, double checking her pistol to make sure it was going to be ready for the fight.

“And the ambush signal?”

“‘Alis Volat Propriis’ Old Aviarian saying. I’d recommend tossing the vials first then shooting the Major. If you shoot the Major first, you’ll have the entire riot team blasting you to bits before you’ll even have a chance to hit them with compliance.” 

“And what am I supposed to do?” Glimmer wondered, looking up to Tactus.

“Simple, cry, scream your head off. Be sympathetic. Oh, and um…” Tactus rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. He had to say this or else he wouldn’t be able to continue in good faith.

“I just want to apologize in advance for anything I might say or do. I’m going to have to act fairly awful to keep them distracted.”

Glimmer nodded.

“I understand, just do or say whatever you need to.” She waved her hand. Tactus nodding in agreement.

“Same to you.”

Catra pointed at the indicator on the screen, showing they were approaching the level for the bombing bay.

“Places people!”

Tactus clears his throat, running a hand up to ruffle his feathers. Trying to go for a real crazy look to make him seem even more on-edge.

“Glimmer, with me.” He growled out, already getting into character. His voice low and rough. Glimmer situated herself infront of Tactus, the owl grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her well infront of him.

Spreading his legs apart for a more dominant and confident stance. Wrapping one arm around her waist and the other under her arm to lightly grip around her throat. Not enough to actually begin to choke her, but certainly enough to _look _like he was about to.

Catra slid behind Tactus, trying to blend in behind their silhouette, to be totally unseen.

Glimmer tossed her hair around to look disheveled. Taking an acting tip from a certain lizard, she tried to think of something to make her laugh so she could tear up.

Feeling a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered the time, she saw Catra cough up a hairball in the middle of a battle onto Perfuma. She was never fond of Perfuma, and Glimmer remembered taking a punch to the face from Scorpia while she tried to hold back her giggling. It felt like a lifetime ago, but such a thing still made her nearly laugh.

The lift ground to a halt, the steel doors sliding open to reveal a long hallway, leading up to the bomber bay. Just as Tactus had said, there were series of pipes along the modestly high ceilings.

Inside the hallway, the clones had already mobilized. A phalanx of Guards with energy shields stood at the ready, just past the lift. The alarm from the lower level had given them credence to prepare. The first row of clones were kneeling, shields ready, with the second row behind them with their rifles raised. Aimed straight at the door. They were primed and ready for any threat. At 30 strong, they stood shoulder to shoulder, taking up the entire hallway.

This was it, the moment Tactus had been waiting for. It had to be a flawless execution.

A philosopher of his homeworld once stated that, ‘To Win a battle you need not destroy your enemies, you need only to dominate and break their will to fight. To dominate the battlefield and prove to the enemy that fighting would result in failure, you will temper their fire. Thus, you find yourself victorious.’

Such was what fueled Tactus as he acted, mustering up his courage. He needed to dominate the playing field before they attempted to fight.

“STAND DOWN.” Tactus barked out to the riot team, slowly shuffling forward with Glimmer, causing her to be pressed into her chest as he forced her along. Tactus lightly tapped Glimmer’s temple with a claw. His Wings flaring behind him to make himself seem even larger and more intimidating.

“Unless you fuckwits wanna see Prime’s new toy to get a fucking lobotomy, I suggest you lower those weapons.”

She shook her head, letting the tears fall down her face.

“Help me…please…” she whimpered out, channeling a tiny smidgen of real fear amongst her fake fear. This position was uncomfortable, and she was terrified. The dawning realization that her life was in this giant owl man’s hands were never clearer then right now, as his hands were wrapped firmly around her throat. Massive claws which she had seen only minutes ago tearing out a clone’s trachea. 

Catra inched behind Tactus slowly, somehow expertly avoiding making any noise with two massive jugs of fluid on her hips.

The clones obliged, but not entirely. Lowering their rifles. The leader of the riot team, a lieutenant, called out.

“What is the meaning of this bird?”

Tactus could see a bead of sweat run down the lieutenant’s face, even at this distance. He wasn’t who he was looking for.

“My words aren’t meant for your ears. Call a superior officer. I want to speak with the Major. Now.”

“Hold up.” The Lieutenant protested.

“Surely we ca-“

“DON’T FUCK WITH ME BOOTLICKER”

Tactus shouted, scooting back and shifting his wings. Subtly making his right wing point diagonally up to the ceiling. He squeezed Glimmer’s throat, not enough to choke her, but just enough to limit her bloodflow. Glimmer’s face quickly growing red. He had to draw their attention away from his wings, and it seemed to be just enough.

Catra effortlessly was able to leap up to the pipe, completely out of sight and hidden by Tactus’ wings. Gripping the metal silently, and only feeling great effort as she adjusted the canisters. Slipping ontop of the pipe and onto her back, above and out of view of the riot team’s line of sight.

Glimmer was terrified, but she had just barely seen Catra’s tail shift out of sight and onto the pipe, so she knew it was working at least. The success almost allowed her to ignore the discomfort of her position and the restricted bloodflow to her brain from Tactus’ grip. She expected it to be bad, and to be fair he was still shockingly careful about all this, but she couldn’t deny how uneasy she felt. 

Catra scooted backwards, slowly. She didn’t want to make too much noise on the pipe, and she worked her way on her back. Using the softest part of her feet to inch her way in the direction of the riot team line. Opting to only move when Tactus spoke to cover the noise.

“You ever seen an owl shatter a neck like a cheap drinking glass? If you don’t run along and call that fucker down here, you’re not going to have enough Princess left to be able to identify let alone an autopsy!”

His threats certainly didn’t help, but she knew he didn’t mean them. He was putting on quite the show, which was good in her mind. She had put her life into his hands here, and her physical unease only made her more confident. The longer he could distract them and hold their attention, the safer she’d be. That was the best way to rationalize this after all, hell, she hardly knew the bird when it came down to it.

Then again, she had hardly known Adora once, and she had trusted her with her life. But she had also been manipulated by Shadow Weaver, once. She was conflicted, in a strange equilibrium of feeling safe and unsafe. She was Schrödinger’s Queen.

“And why don’t we just shoot you down right here and now? You’re a pretty big target, pal.” The Lieutenant inquired, the thought just occurring to him.

“You must be too young. An Aviarian’s grip clenches tightly when they die. You kill me and you’ll kill her too.” Tactus bluffed. It was a total lie, but anything he could do to slow them down the better.

Still, Glimmer didn’t know that. For all she knew, that could’ve been totally true.

“FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT HIM.” She howled out, Tactus pulling her back. Trying to seem as menacing as he could while also trying to signal to her it was a lie. His actions somewhere inbetween a hug, and the mantling a bird would do over it’s prey. He flapped his wings a tiny bit as a menacing sort of taunt.

“Call him in.” Tactus ordered once again, the Lieutenant finally obliging, raising up a walkie and speaking into it, turning his head away so he wouldn’t have to see Tactus’ beady bird eyes staring him down from across the room.

A small smile almost crossed Tactus’ face, but he suddenly began to feel ill. An unpleasantly warm sensation filling his chest, not too different from a very intense heartburn. He coughed at the feeling, finding it almost hard to breathe. Glimmer could feel him nearly sway. But he adjusted his stance to hold himself up. Shrugging off the discomfort.

Now wasn’t the time to suddenly be swept up by anxiety, but a nagging worry needled its way in the back of his head. Wondering if he had mixed the potions right, or if he had overlooked something. The discomfort increasing, and he almost couldn’t breathe. The stiffness he had felt before in his feet seemed to return, radiating up his spine, making him feel rigid.

Glimmer couldn’t say a word, but she could tell something was wrong. She heard one of his toes twitch, and a claw click along the metal floor. Something was very wrong.

Catra had noticed it too, noticing the cough and looking at Tactus’ face. He was hiding it well, but there was definitely something off about him. But focusing on the bird’s health was only a parallel concern to Glimmer’s.

“Stand Down Sergeant.” A familiar voice echoed in the air. The clicking of boots on the floor filled the room as he arrived. Standing arrogantly and impassionate, he marched in. Wearing his visor as he often did, his face twisted into bitter annoyance mixed with a tad hint of smugness.

“The matters with this bird are for me and _it_ to discuss.”

Tactus was almost relieved, he had finally arrived, and vengeance would be sweet. After so many years of beatings and insults, of this satisfied bastard looming over him. The embodiment of everything he hated about the Horde, even more so then Prime.

Catra’s eyes widened as she spotted him. There he was, The Major. Though her hate toward Prime was palpable, this clone in particular made himself so easy to hate. She felt her hand reach for her pistol, but remembered there was a plan in place. She was furious, he was _right there. _It’d be so easy to just blow his brains out now, but she still had to get a bit closer. She’d only have one chance to make a clean shot when the chance was right.

The pipe hung just over the riot team, she’d be only about 20 feet away from him if she could just get a little closer. Shifting slowly, wanting to be ready to strike whenever she could.

The Major dusted his armor off, intent on looking dignified and important during this discussion. He cracked his knuckles, stepping forward to speak. Flicking on his visor’s heartbeat monitor.

He wanted to see his little bird heart fluctuate and evaluate his confidence. He wanted to see it crushed under the weight of his words and see the hope fade from his body before justice was dealt with swiftly and efficiently.

He noticed the feline wasn’t anywhere to be seen. It was just the bird and the Queen. Perhaps Tactus had killed her while she was still subject to the Compliance? Then there was the bird’s violence. How he could do such acts despite his collar perplexed the Major. But it didn’t matter now. Now was the time for speeches, long in preparation.

“My my my, I don’t know what I expected from you. It is quite fitting that one of your species would be given such opportunities to be elevated by us, only to throw it away, and for what exactly did you plan to do with a hostage? You know very well the Horde does not do negotiations.”

“I’m glad you arrived Major. I hoped someone who actually had a large role to play in the Aviarian takeover would be here on this day. It’s a very important day to me, as I’m sure you’d understand.” 

The Major stared back dubiously.

“What are you blathering on about?”

“Oh yes, you are exactly who I wanted here today. The Major who threw away so many of his own men’s lives to save his skin. How many of their bodies did you crawl over to attain that rank you carry so enthusiastically? And how many of my own people did you slaughter and manipulate to get where you are now?”

Such words had no effect on the Major, but a chill seemed to dance amongst the riot team. They weren’t saying anything, but a few may have begun to judge the Major harshly.

Glimmer felt growing concern at the passion which seemed to flow out of Tactus but was impressed he was holding their attention.

“If you’re trying to make me feel shame for the deaths of my men, I feel none. They died for the honor of our conquest, and in the pursuit of creating a more civilized universe. One with fewer individuals as savage as you are purporting yourself to be.”

“The ultimate of savagery lies in the hearts of people such as you, who speak of ‘civilized’ and ‘uncivilized’, uncaring of culture and throwing away every bit of uniqueness that you encounter. Trampling over so many lives and destroying knowledge to proclaim your own false ideals of supposed superiority, and yet my people held off against yours for so long. Tell me Major, why is that?”

The Major scoffed, feeling the bird was not worthy of a debate.

“It’s irrelevant. Absolutely irrelevant. There are more pressing matters at hand.” The Major motioned to Glimmer.

“You hold her hostage and try to tell me you’re better than I? Preposterous. But…I do confess that Prime demands her continued existence. As much as it disgusts me to even look at your hideously imperfect visage, I am somewhat curious what your demands are.” The Major put a hand to his chin, staring down Tactus, who maintained aggressive eye contact. He felt a familiar heat rising in his chest, but he chose to ignore it.

“My mother’s crown. This collar removed, and my people freed. I know some of them still exist on some of those ships, supplying your army with labor and potions. If we are really so inferior, then you do not need us. Take this woman and her powers, and leave us be.”

Glimmer was shocked, Tactus hadn’t mentioned anything about the rest of his people on other ships before. Was he being genuine with this negotiation attempt or just stalling? Suddenly she felt a heat radiate from him. He was getting warmer, physically warmer! It was on the back of her head like a heater!

Even Catra was somewhat shocked, she stared down at the bird and couldn’t help but feel like he was just trying to win a secondary gambit here. Even as she made her way across the pipe.

Truth be told, Tactus had almost wished the Major would accept his offer. It’d be so easy to give these two up in exchange for his own. But he had come too far to just give in. So, he had demanded too much in such a pleading way, that he knew the Major would only be able to react in just one such way.

He cackled in Tactus’ face, nearly wiping a tear away from his eyes.

“Oh, is that all? Why don’t I just bring Prime down here to be your prisoner instead? Or should I prance around in a little Tutu for your amusement? You came all this way just to-“

“ACHOO.” A clone in the riot team’s half just to the left of the Major sneezed. 

The Major paused, looking at the Clone in annoyance. 

“Sorry sir, allergies.”

Tactus stared at the clone from across the room. Perplexed. Glimmer stared back and recognized the clone from before, but her mind just worked a little faster than Tactus’. Looking up at Catra who was on the pipe just above the clone. Her mind rushing as it all began to click.

The clone wasn’t allergic to Etherians, he was allergic to _cats_.

‘That’s right! The clone from before sneezed when we approached him, but just before that we…’ her eyes stared up almost pleadingly to Catra in the darkness.

‘We all hugged……_Oh no_.’

Glimmer stomped on Tactus toe, getting his attention. He followed Glimmer’s gaze and it too clicked for him. Catra was in serious danger, and she didn’t even know it. It was time to speed things along, but he had to distract the Major and regain his attention.

“IF YOU WON’T WORK WITH ME.”

Tactus shouted back, gripping Glimmer a little more firmly and pulling her close to him. But he found his feet unable to move, as if he was rooted firmly into the ground. A tightness at his feet preventing him from moving. As if he had a large tentpole rooted through each leg pinning him into the steel.

The entire riot team raised their rifles, the shield row infront adjusting their crouch stance, ready to rush forward. The Major’s attention turning back to Tactus.

“Then I Tactus, Last Noble to the Hemo Invicta bloodline, Heir to the Throne of Aviaria, have one last thing to say that might change your mind.”

‘OH GOD HE’S DOING A LAST WORDS KIND OF SPEECH. WE’RE SO FUCKED’ Glimmer practically shrieked in her head, struggling in Tactus’ grasp.

Catra readied herself, this had to be the moment he’d say it. She uncoupled her glass cannisters of Compliance.

“Alis-“

The Clone sneezed once again, The Major’s head turning back to him. He was seconds away from reprimanding him before his eyes and visor caught something in the darkness, just barely above his head.

A single heartbeat and a pair of eyes glowering down at him.

“VOLAT”

The two making eye contact felt like hours, as Catra was mid-toss of the vials.

“FIRE” The Major shouted, panicking with the order as the vials slammed down toward them. A few of the clones looking up and aiming towards Catra.

“PROPRIIS”

The vials shattered on the floor, Catra quickly following her assault with a shot from her pistol down, the concentrated bolt of green plasma heading straight for the Major. A slurry fire going up to Catra as she dove back behind the cover of the pipe.

The half of the Riot Squad which had kept their eyes firmly on Tactus sent a hail of fire down the hallway.

In the time it took them to pull the trigger, Tactus shifted from his aggressive stance of holding Glimmer to a defensive stance. Instead of holding her like a shield he pushed her down, his wings curling inwards to wrap around the two of them instinctively.

Finally, the pain in Tactus’ chest left him as the room erupted into a blinding purple light, the pair being engulfed in purple flames.


	18. Flight of the Phoenix

The Owl panted as the torrent of plasma rained down upon the pair of them. Keeping his head down low in the closed space between his wings. He was terrified, hoping if he could just keep Glimmer’s head down, she might be able to make it at least.

He hadn’t expected them to start firing so soon, and he kept hearing the firing of their rifles. Horrified that he was already dead, he couldn’t feel them hit him or burn through his skin. Yet the shots kept ringing out.

“Tactus…” Glimmer whispered softly.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry.” Tactus apologized, holding her tight. If this was it, he wanted to say that at least for leading her astray, and out of guilt that in the briefest moment of weakness he had hoped in the tiniest pit of his heart that The Major would’ve accepted his offer.

“Tactus, I didn’t know that…that you could do this.”

So, distracted by the fear of his own death and failure, Tactus hadn’t even noticed what had happened. But now he could finally see it.

Hours ago, his wings had been as thin as the sheet which allowed a kite to fly. Now, he saw them tinted a brilliant hue of purple, a crystalline sheen coating them and illuminating them like lavender colored flames as the bolts of plasma connected with them.

Yet there was no pain, his now crystalized feathers had shielded them from their volleys. The pain in Tactus’ chest had subsided, and he no longer felt such overwhelming heat. Now as he stared at his own wings in such a beautifully glittering array, he felt the immense weight of his wings.

It was no illusion, each of the feathers on his wings had turned into semi-translucent purple crystals. Their unique configuration and shape had caused the plasma bolts to slide and bead off him like water from a duck, and their densities resisting the immense heat the plasma bolts gave off.

He could see the continuous fire deflecting off his wings as easily as an umbrella in a rainstorm. A beat passed before Tactus finally replied to Glimmer.

“I didn’t know either”

“Think you can move with those?” Glimmer asked, already working on summoning some magical energy up to help with fighting.

It was heavy, but Tactus surmised he might be able to move forward with these, but it’d be very slow. They were his own wings, but they easily maxed out his maximum carrying ability, and he was quite frankly worried he might step wrong and shatter an ankle.

He tried to lift a leg but found he couldn’t quite feel his feet. A quick glance down and he discovered that the whole of each foot had also crystallized, hardening to root himself into the ground where he stood. He couldn’t pull himself out until he had at least figured out how to shut off the magic that was currently working on his wings right now.

He wasn’t too keen on figuring that out too much right now, for if his wings shut off for even a second, they both might die.

“That’s a negative, Ma’am.”

They were thoroughly stuck, Glimmer stopping her magic conduction, a worrisome thought occurred to her as the blasts rained down on them still. The Soldiers being too trained to need to stop for reloads, cycling off with eachother to keep a constant barrage of fire slinging down towards them.

“How long can you keep this up?”

Tactus gave Glimmer a grimace, as her words made him notice the ache he felt from his core. He wasn’t sure what it was before, but now he realized it was a magic reserve. One he had never quite tapped into or harnessed before due to the natural blockers of Prime’s ship and a general lack of hope.

It was weak and underused, and he knew his Wing Shields would fail sooner than he’d hoped.

“Not much longer.”

“Think those potions are working by now?” Glimmer asked, a wry grin on her face, Tactus’ eyes lighting up, he gave her a happy little nod. The last order the clones had received was to ‘fire’, and at the concentration of a dosage they received, at least a few of them had turned by now. The adrenaline forcing the blood to pump harder in their bodies. 

“Stop shooting!” Glimmer shouted over the cacophony of firing rifles.

The firing immediately dying off after the announcement was called.

The two stood unsure for a second, Glimmer tried to peek through Tactus’ wings to look outside, and saw that the clones had not only stopped shooting but returned to a resting stance with their rifles. Seeming to rely on the old military training when Glimmer’s order went out.

Glimmer nodded at Tactus, signaling him it was safe.

Tactus took a deep breath, trying to see if he could relax himself enough to drop his Wing Shields. Instead of the wave of purple fire that had accompanied their arrival, the crystalized feathers seemed to fade back into normalcy. Like a beam of light passing over glass.

His wings returning to their lighter weight and density, and his feet unstiffening, allowing him to finally be able to move.

He folded his wings against his bare back, quizzically staring at the riot team. It was odd to him that the potion had no visual change, and staring at so many armed enemy soldiers made him uneasy. Standing as still as statues or machines, unblinking and uncaring of the world around them.

His eyes quickly scanned the immediate area. A few of the soldiers had seemingly been shot, but he couldn’t spot the Major’s body anywhere.

“He’s not there.” Tactus muttered, but Glimmer was focused on something else.

“CATRA” she shrieked in horror. 

The pipe that Catra had been lying on. Holes punched through it from the multiple shots of plasma, with black marks scorching the walls around it.

“I’m f-fine!” A voice rasped out from the pipe, the body of Catra rolled off the pipe. Slamming against the hard floor on her back, holding up the box of vaccines.

The box entirely unscathed, she had been protecting it with her life, even in the fall she had chosen to keep it safe and use her body to cushion the blow.

She was covered in burn marks and her own blood.

Tactus and Glimmer dashed over, Tactus already clamoring through the satchel of potions he had attached to him. Glimmer tearing up at the sight of Catra.

She was torn to bits and burnt all over. Her fur had singed, and a large burn from the heated pipe had seared a line on the side of her head and past her temple.

She had thankfully been hit by mostly grazing blows, but there was one shot in particular that made Glimmer feel sick at the sight of it.

A single shot had pierced straight through her chest, having burned straight through like a cigarette against paper. A hole about as wide as a baseball. The flesh had burnt and cauterized the wounds, but at that spot the flesh had already begun to crack and bleed.

“Didn’t know you could do that fancy wing shield thing there…wasn’t able to kill Major…” Catra coughed up some blood, which streaked down her chin. “Asshole…but I kept the vaccines safe, like ya asked for…Ticcy Tacs…got some of the clones who hadn’t been hit by the potion too…just to be on the safe side but they…got me pretty good didn’t they?”

“Just hush. Catra” Tactus admonished, looking at her wounds with a sad look on his face. Glimmer holding the back of Catra’s head and tilting it up, wiping the blood away from her mouth.

“Catra…” Glimmer’s voice cracked, she had went through all this just to help them. Tactus’ face hardened, and his brow furrowed, looking through the pack.

He didn’t have enough time to fully take care of all the wounds, he wasn’t even entirely sure she’d be able to make it to the docking bay let alone Etheria. There was no way she’d be able to stand with those wounds, and ignoring his previous words he wasn’t about to just leave her.

Suddenly Tactus heard a soft thunking noise, his head turning quickly to the area the lift had come from. It had departed back up, likely coming soon with more reinforcements. If the Major had lived and run in the commotion, he probably had already put in the word for more troops to arrive.

“Tactus, help her. Please.” Glimmer pleaded, Tactus looking back down and making eye contact with Catra. She had a knowing look back up to him, she could tell there was some trepidation in him. But Tactus did what he always did. He put on a fake face and threw down some reassurance.

He cracked his knuckles, grabbing some much-needed bandages and potions.

“Not the worst I’ve ever seen, but we don’t have a whole lot of time. I’ll do what I can for her, but we’re going to need some extra hands to help move her. Glimmer, get a couple of the clones over here. I’m going to need extra hands to move her, get half watching our rear and half watching our front. We’re going to ride through in phalanx with Catra here in the middle. Double Time.”

Tactus ordered, already working on getting some of the burn healing potions in his hands.

“Got it.”

Glimmer nodded. Wiping some tears out of her eyes. She wanted to help Catra directly, but the look on Tactus’ face told her that the best way she could help would be to ensure they have a way out.

Tactus looking Catra dead in the eyes as he started to apply the burn medicine. Catra seeming to be drifting off. Seemingly disbelieving that he was actually about to help patch her up. Surely, she was too far gone already, and they both knew that.

“I…”

“You stay with me now. You’re in good hands, and we’re going to get you home, alive. Soldier!”

He pressed Catra’s knees up, keeping her in a relaxed position to relieve tension to her abdominal muscles, not wanting to cause further damage to her muscular structure.

Tactus peeled back the clothes around the wound, cutting through with his claw to expose the wound further so he could get a good look. His claws sterilizing and treating any of the burns he had touched, already alleviating some of the pain.

“How’s your back? Helluva fall.” Tactus talked, trying to keep her distracted.

“I’ve felt worse…” Catra half-muttered.

Tactus let the medicinal potion spill from his hands, lightly applying it around the outside of the wound. It stung Catra, but it was better than the feeling she had before. Catra’s nails gripped tight into the metal underneath her, peeling it back.

Tactus was amazed at her resilience, she was taking this like a champ, and he felt the need to express it to her. His mind focused entirely on treating the wound so much that he didn’t even notice the clones moving into position as Glimmer commanded them.

“You’re incredible, Catra. Doing just great.” Tactus said, trying not to look as he saw the potion ooze straight through her, and into the wound. He didn’t have the ability to repair the damage right now. But he wasn’t giving up. Her right kidney was destroyed, as well as a great deal of her hip. But she could still live. There had to be a chance and he was doing what he could. He fumbled reaching for the bandages, feeling his hand start to shake and quiver but he gripped his wrist tight. Refocusing himself on the matter at hand.

“This is going to hurt, but you’ve taken so much already I know you can get through this.” He says, placing the bandage pad on the wound and wrapping it tight. Catra howled in pain, her lungs aching. She had lost so much blood, and at this point even she had felt like he was going too far for her.

Why? Why do this when she was so close to the end. Some sense of pride that he couldn’t beat?

“Tactus…stop…” Catra panted out in shallow breaths.

“Where’s the fighter who said she was stronger than any of us? Come on.” He shouted at her, securing the bandage in place. Having taken care of the primary wound, he checked her others. Quickly slathering them in burn solution in a rush, and throwing on some quick blood clotting powder so they would heal quicker.

Glimmer suddenly rushing to Catra’s side, looking her over. Tactus had done incredible work in barely a couple minutes.

“Just…leave me…” Catra rasped out

Glimmer couldn’t even look at Catra, it was too painful. She didn’t want to give up on Catra, not so close to the finish line.

“We’re _ALL _getting out of here. But we’re going to need to move quick. I’ve got the clones guarding us Tactus, but we’re going to need to move _fast_ and through that door.”

Tactus didn’t speak to Glimmer, looking up at one of the clones she had sent over to help.

“You, get your buddy and a holoshield over and use it to carry her out of here. Now!”

Catra’s breathing was shallow, and try as she might to sit up, she found she couldn’t. But she saw something just out of the corner of her eye and pointed to it. Tactus followed the path of her hand and looked, his keen eyes spotting a small lump of white flesh which he could tell seemed to be an ear just about a hundred feet from them.

“Blew that off…Major Asshole earlier…Biosignature…”Catra rasped out, Glimmer staring down at her in tears.

Even now, Catra was still worried about finishing the mission. Tactus feeling his heart sink at the expanse of her determination, but he swallowed his fear. The way he could respect her sacrifices was to finish this and make it through.

“Thank you, Catra.” Glimmer says, taking Catra’s hand. The two clones quickly returning with the holoshield.

“You two. Load her on like a stretcher. Mind her back. I need to grab something.” Tactus shouts at the clones, rushing to scoop up the ear. It might’ve been enough to fool the ships and the docking computers. They just might make it out of this.

The clones acted like machines, careful machines. Sliding the lightweight shield under Catra, keeping her situated on her back. Catra shrieked in pain yet again, only now did another issue become apparent.

A large bloodstain was now noticeable underneath Catra, and to Glimmer’s horror she realized Catra was missing her entire tail.

“TACTUS” Glimmer shouted, Tactus quickly stuffed the ear into his satchel, wrapped in the plastic wrap the roll of bandages was packaged in.

Tactus spotted the same wound, reaching for more clotting powder and dusting her back and rear.

“Sloppy work, should’ve noticed that. Been too long.” Tactus fretted, looking back up and seeing the readout on the lift notify them the lift was even closer. He was silently thankful that the ship was so large the lifts took forever to get from place to place.

“We need to move.” Tactus declared, looking at Glimmer.

“Troops! Advance!” Glimmer ordered, the phalanx shifting around to keep the trio in the center as they advanced to the bomber bay doors.

The Lift opened and immediately the reinforcements began to open fire, maintaining a firing line and advancing to meet them. Barely being repelled back by the rear end of the phalanx.

The doors of the Bomber Bay opened for them, just wide enough that the troupe could march forward amidst the firing of plasma rifles.

It was a slow march as the front half of the phalanx cleared the area. There weren’t any immediate threats in the bomber bay.

Tactus kept his wings over the feline, to shield her from any dust or debris that might fly in her direction. Catra was looking green and still breathing shallow. He tried as best he could to examine her as they move and keep an eye on her vitals, checking her pulse and feeling it was faint.

“Almost there.” He tried to console as they advanced. Leaving the rest of the phalanx to clear and sweep.

Though the many catwalks along the ceiling could be hiding who knows how many fighters. Tools were strewn all over the warehouse from drones and engineers that had fled. A mass amount of armaments and munitions stockpiled to be loaded. Odd metal cylinders meant to be dropped on enemies.

Massive triangular ships sat at each of the holographic shieldings that led to the dark expanse of space. The entire bomber bay a sea of green. The bombers themselves were small relatively to the big ships, which made their potential duties.

Glimmer noted the fuel tanks and the general emptiness of the bay gave her and uncomfortable feeling.

“Watch your fire for now.”

She told the immediate phalanx guard, the back half still having issues repelling the reinforcements. Silently firing like trained machines.

Glimmer almost felt a twinge of guilt for manipulating them to attack themselves, but when she saw the state Catra was in she wasn’t quite sure if she could even muster up any guilt for them.

“We’re being pushed back commander.” One of the clones suddenly shouted back to Glimmer. His voice monotone and lifeless despite the advancing threat of the Reinforcements.

There didn’t seem to be anyone around, and with the wall of death that the Reinforcements would prove to be, she made the most reasonable decision she could make.

“Front Guard, go assist the rear guard. Now.”

The Clones gave a salute, the two clones which had been helping Catra be moved stayed behind. Setting her down next to one of the bombers and drawing their rifles.

Tactus crouching over Catra to see what more damage she might’ve had. Pulling out the ear that they had found and tossing it to Glimmer.

“Glimmer, Catch.” He casually said, Glimmer nearly gagging at the sight of the ear. Bag or no.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Take this, place it against the round console next to the door on the ship. Then get in and place it on a big flat grid near the pilot’s chair. Screen should appear, keep hitting ‘clear’. Hurry, might take awhile.”

Glimmer was on it, trying to push the sorry state of Catra out of her mind. They were so close to being free, and Tactus was a field medic. If there was any chance she had, it was him right now. Her hands were shaking, and she chastised herself for such weakness. She needed to be strong for them. Pulling the ear out of the bag and placing it on the rounded console of the bomber. It was taking its time to read it, and she was stuck standing there, the sound of the rifles at the door were drowning her thoughts out.

Tactus meanwhile was checking Catra over, worried about the shallowness of her breath considering the hard fall she had taken along with the multiple plasma shots she had taken. Examining her torso and counting her ribs, horrified as he realized one of them was out of place, and broken. One of her lungs had punctured.

Shallow breathing, massive loss of blood, failing lungs, and a lost kidney with damage to her skeletal structure from her tail. The prognosis was not looking good.

“Tactus…” Catra rasped out, catching the bird’s attention.

“I know…already…” she coughed out, looking broken as she said it.

“Catra, I’m sorry.” Tactus apologized, mortified that there wasn’t a thing he could do for her. Despite all his claims, he didn’t have nearly enough materials for this. Even after stuffing a bag full of potions there wasn’t a thing he could do to heal her in any span of time that could save her.

“I’m not…finally did something good with my worthless life…” Catra rasped out, tapping the box of vaccines that she had been holding tight to this entire time. The box she had guarded till her last breath.

“never could’ve face any of them again anyways…make sure they make a big fuckin’ statue of me birdbrain…and”

Catra hacked, spitting out some blood. Wheezing as she took Tactus hand, looking him in the eyes. There was no way she could have done this with anyone she had known for longer. In her dying breaths she felt it was oddly more comfortable to tell someone who was practically a stranger the last things she could.

“Could you do me a favor…?” Tactus nodded, his eyes welling up with tears.

“Anything.”

“Tell Adora…tell her I’m sorry for everything,…and tell Scorpia she could do better…” Catra wheezed out.

A loud clicking noise could be heard as the door of the bomber finally unlocked. Glimmer turning back to shout.

“I GOT I-“ her words were cut off by a loud crack.

Catra, who had been looking when it happened gasped in shock. Feeling a sudden wave of adrenaline hit her. Moments ago, she had been fine with dying, but she very quickly found a new reason to live. Rage.

The crack had been the sound of bone, the sound of a massive white fist colliding with Glimmer’s face. The shock from it twisted her around and caused her to collapse to the floor. She had hardly felt it before she was on the ground. A wave of pain rushing as her brain rattled in it’s skull and she could’ve swore she felt a couple molars get knocked loose.

Tactus’ head span 180 degrees, and there he saw him.

Standing in the doorway of the ship, half his face melted clean off, but emanating rage from every pore. Panting, and somehow still alive despite his grievous injuries stood the Major. Stepping over the body of Glimmer and advancing forward in a lunge.

He batted the Birdman out of the way with a backhand, slamming him into some nearby crates with just that single simple flick.

Catra reached for her gun, ready to fire one last shot into his skull this time. But she was too slow on the draw. A swift boot -ined kick slammed into her arm, the pain of the bones shattering would’ve made her scream were she capable of producing anything left. Causing her to collapse. Instinctively moving to cover the vaccine box with her body. Leaving her a rasping mess on the floor in silent screams.

“It was you who destroyed my beautiful face…I saw those eyes and the moment I did I knew it was you…worthless little thing…”

The Major placed his boot firmly on Catra’s head.

“All of you are savages before us, and shall die just as you deserve.”

Another crack filled the air, this time of glass and not bone.

The Major screaming and falling to the ground, clutching his face. Broken glass now embedded into the burns.

“Your wounds looked like they were about to get infected, thought you’d appreciate some alcohol for it.”

The owl peeled himself off the crates, his wings having hardened and leaving a sizeable indent.

Distracted from the feline, the Major turned his sights on the bird. Seeing the indent he had left in the crates, and remembering the burst of fire that emanated from him before his tactical retreat into the bomber bay.

“Oh, I’m so glad you have powers now, going to be make it more fun when I break every single one of your hollow bones into a thousand pieces!”

Rather than try to take another blow, Tactus attempted to dodge. But he had misjudged, and instead of going for a blow, the Major was going for a grab. Catching Tactus by the collar and chucking him into the air.

There he was, flipping through the air head over heel. In the midst of all that chaos, Decimus’ words echoed in the back of his head. 

‘Fight or Flight’

Tactus spread his wings out, regaining his balance and flapping them in big slow flaps. Just as he had been trying to do for years. His eyes shut the entire time in fear that he’d hit the ground any second now, but the feeling never came.

Opening his eyes he found himself suspended in the air. Flying, actually flying after all this time cooped up in a tiny cell. Even with his stunted wings, with no small amount of effort, he had finally done it.

But he had no time to appreciate such a feat. There was still the fight at hand.

To make matters worse, the line of Compliance-ridden soldiers they had been using for backup had just finally been overwhelmed. What little was left of the reinforcements poured in.

“You’ve gotta be FUCKING KIDDING ME” The Major shouted at the bird, grabbing a crate and chucking it at him. Tactus diving down to avoid it. Barely missing being shot by more plasma bolts.

Looking at the state his two comrades were in, broken as they were, with Catra half-dead and Glimmer only just now beginning to stir.

The three of them making it out of this was out of the question, but seeing Glimmer stir and knowing the vaccines were in reach gave Tactus the motivation he needed to enact his final gambit.

“Hey Major! What’s more important, getting the Queen or stopping one field medic from blowing up your entire bomber bay?” Tactus flashed the Major a grin, shaking his medic bag ominously. Diving down behind cover.

The Major’s many eyes growing wide, as he bounded over the many crates to try to climb and find the bird.

“SECURE THE QUEEN.” He shouted as the reinforcements poured in.

“THE BIRD IS MINE”

* * *

Glimmer’s sense of time was muddled, she couldn’t hear anything clearly. Her ears ringing, she lifted her head just intime to see the Major leap from box to box. Infront of her she saw the wave of troops moving forward, and Catra, curled up next to the box with the box of vaccines in her hand. Barely moving with shallow breaths, her chest maybe moving a half centimeter with each slow inhale.

She couldn’t even talk or scream or think of anything but the coming end. Her entire body aching and feeling the slow encroach of death approach her. Yet she wanted so desperately to move, she was angry and furious, and she just barely saw Glimmer get up. Despite the hard hit she had taken, Glimmer was ever eager to stand.

Glimmer saw the approaching soldiers with their rifles, feeling a burst of magic come from her hands as her father’s staff appeared. Using it to hold herself up.

Now wasn’t the time for scared little girls pining after mommy and daddy. Now was the time for a Queen who was ready to fight and die for her people. No Adora, or Bow. Catra was down for the count, and she didn’t even know where the hell Tactus was.

It was just her, staring down all these soldiers. Her entire brain had rattled in its skull, and her vision was fuzzy but little things like that could wait. She wasn’t going to run, she was tired of running and playing nice. Now was the time to fight.

“I haff had it…wiff you fuggin’ clones!” she mumbled out, teeth still missing and pretty sure her jaw was broken. Holding her staff triumphantly and charging forward despite all that.

Dodging clone fire with ‘blinks’, these mini-teleports that was all she could do in spite of the magic blockers. Feeling her mass decrease for split seconds as she moved at the speed of light out of the way of shots, dashing forward to sling some magical bursts of energy out the tip of her staff.

Catra watched her go in shock, her willingness to fight. She had wanted Glimmer to run and just leave them all behind, that was clearly what Tactus’ plan was. But she was so adamant to keep fighting, and Catra hated and admired it.

She wanted nothing more than to get up and fight by her side, but there she was with a case of vaccines in her lap. A case that she coulda swore was feeling oddly warm right now.

She had gotten so beat up over this thing, she felt an odd sense of responsibility over its continued safety, even now. Lifting her arm up to touch it, accidentally knocking it off her lap and causing it to bust open.

It was loose from the odd vial she had grabbed before, the only vial that had bounced out of the container. It had to have been the source of heat, as now as Catra stared at it, this little purple vial was shining like the sun.

* * *

Tactus dashed through the bomber bay’s aisles of shipping materials. He knew what he was doing, and he had run over the advantages and disadvantages between them over and over.

He had solid bones, actual hand-to-hand training, a good foot-and-a-half over him on height, longer reach, more kinetic force per strike.

Outrunning wasn’t going to work, not on these bird legs. His body was made to catch wind in the air and propel it around him. Not to run upright like this.

“YOU CAN’T RUN BIRD”. The Major called out, fast on Tactus’ heels.

If he could crack Glimmer’s jaw with one punch, one punch could easily _kill _him. He had to keep as much distance between them as possible, use as much as he could to his advantage.

He had his wings, but he had only just developed this power. He wasn’t even sure if they’d be able to take direct kinetic force, and even if they could it was unlikely Tactus had much magical reserve left to use it.

If Tactus could get close he might have a chance to crush some of the Major’s bones in his strong owl grip. If he could get his hands around his throat in one quick clench, he just might have a chance to break his neck. But that would leave himself in range for a kick to the chest, an uppercut. Ribcage shattered, he’d be on death’s door.

Prognosis? Incredibly grim. Unlikely to win. He’d die spitting up his own blood.

The threat to cause the munitions to blow was a hollow threat at best, it was unhelpful to even attempt that before they had all secured their way out of there, but if it was enough to get the Major running after him it was worth it.

Those two, or at least Glimmer would be able to make it home and deliver the vaccines. They’d have some chance against the Horde’s dirtier tactics.

Still, he didn’t feel like a winner yet. Not while the Major’s pounding footsteps were ever closer. He darted around a corner, tossing a crate in the way.

“OH VERY CLEVER” the Major sarcastically shouted, leaping over it with ease.

Catra’s will had surprised Tactus. She may have been so close to accepting death, but she had taken such horrific injuries to win he was downright inspired. If he wasn’t willing to go through worse, then what good was he? As grim as things seemed, it didn’t matter so long as they could just win this.

* * *

Glimmer was fighting hard, dodging shots left and right but she was slowed down and woozy from the Major’s punch. She was seeing double and striking dead center to make her attacks count.

She was only so powerful and so capable, burns from near misses on her arms, her back, her legs. But she kept fighting. Even as they pushed her back and closer to the ship.

She couldn’t just leave, knowing what they had done. What they would continue to do, and if she had to fight the entire clone army on her own, then dammit she would!

Her mistakes didn’t matter anymore, all that mattered was that she was willing to fight them right here, and right now.

Not the pain in her head, Not the guilt in her heart, not the heat that was building in her gut or that tingling she felt on her back. Not even the strange glow that was starting to emanate from her.

* * *

Despite its heat, the vial was oddly cold to the touch. Just as before the hairs on Catra’s arm stood up as she held it.

To just glimpse it gave her energy, and she wasn’t quite sure what it was. Even just holding it she was sure her breath had eased, though she wasn’t sure if it was that or if she had simply stopped breathing entirely.

Tactus finally met a dead end, and try as he might to fly he felt the Major’s hand grip the back of his leg and pull him down to the ground. His wings immediately hardening and he dropped like a stone.

He flipped off his back, unhardening and repositioning his wings to shield him from the front as he was backed into a corner.

Rifling through his bag for something, anything to help him.

Feeling his fingers brush against the energy based bonesaw he had felt before. But no, he couldn’t. Even in the face of death he didn’t think he could bring himself to do it and break his vow.

The Major’s fist slammed into the hardened wall that was Tactus’ wing. Causing it to crack at the first blow. The pain radiating through and would’ve brought the owl to his knees had his feet not also hardened, forcing him to stand. The repeated blows beat on his wings.

Beat.

Beat.

Suddenly, thought occurred to Tactus, and despite all the pain, he couldn’t help but grin, even laughing as the Major continued to slam into his wings. Feeling each throbbing sense of pain over and over again.

The Major infuriated at the sound of his hooting laughs with each blow.

“Why ARE…YOU…**_LAUGHING?!_**”

He shouted at the bird, continuing to slam against his wings, the pair feeling like they were on the verge of shattering into a million pieces like so much glass.

“I just got it.”

Catra was sure of it now, she had to be dead. Her senses were fading and turning to black, but yet this little vial glowed so bright. It couldn’t have been the vial that was glowing, it was the light at the end of the tunnel. It had to have been.

“My name is Tactus. It doesn’t mean ‘Tactical’ as Catra thought or ‘Mute’ like the name Tacitus does…” He hooted with laughter.

“It means ‘Beat’. Don’t you get it? No, of course you wouldn’t.” He kept laughing, and now the Major’s confusion was overriding his anger. As much as he wanted nothing more than to finally kill this bird, the Major always had a dangerous sense of curiosity.

It was that curiosity which had given him his rank, the curiosity to find out how things ticked, and here this bird was about to idea and he was laughing. Laughing that he didn’t understand it.

“TELL ME.”

“Like a heartbeat…the kind that keeps a person alive…just like the spark of life the Phoenix gifted to my people so many years ago. The flame passed on to us”

Glimmer wanted to throw up. She couldn’t fighting the heat in her chest was too much and she couldn’t even think, but she ignored it. Still not even noticing as two little birthmarks on her back glowed ever brighter.

“The flame that drives us to survive no matter what and pass on that same flame to others.”

Catra felt the cork come off the top of the vial with ease, bringing it to her lips. She didn’t know why she felt so at ease. If she could just swallow this light she’d be alright. That was the beat that drummed in her head told her. 

The fluid passing across her lips and burning like fire all the way down. 

“The flame that burns life into our very soul. A flame which someone like you, who wished for nothing more than to snuff out every flame you can’t control, will never truly know.”

Tactus let his wings unharden, bringing his shield down so he could look the Major in the eyes. These were going to be his last words to him after all.

“And by that fire, you will be enflamed.”

The Major stared at the owl, dumbstruck momentarily. The owl suddenly reaching into his bag, causing the Major to lunge forward, fist raised for a haymaker.

A warcry from the Queen of Brightmoon filled the air, power and light radiating off her in every direction as she found herself surrounded.

And one nearly dead cat suddenly stood up, howling in fury and wreathed in purple fire.


	19. She Flies With Her Own Wings

The moment the potion had passed Catra's lips, she felt the entire world begin to slow. The fiery purple ichor traced its way down her gullet, and she lost her sense of self.

Feeling herself plunged into a world of inky blackness she feared she'd never awaken from.

A feminine voice spoke to her, old fashioned but elegant. Yet terse and clear.

"You aren't quite what I expected."

It was oddly distant and unearthly. Now Catra was never quite a believer in the divine, but when you think yourself to be in the afterlife, you typically wouldn't want to start making enemies.

"Is....are you god? A god atleast? Goddess...I..." She stammered. The voice laughed.

"Oh you don't even know where you are or what you've done, do you?"

The voice queried.

"Who are you? " Catra spoke, stepping through the dark. Feeling her tail between her legs and the aches and pains she had seemingly died with were gone.

The Being laughed at her. A figure faintly coming into view. It was still dark and hard to tell, but it seemed to be another Aviarian. Just the silhouette revealed itself. She could tell by the shape of its legs and hands.

"That is all I wish to share for now"

"Wait, do you know Tactus?" 

The Being hooted softly, seemingly amused. 

"Interesting name. But knowing him doesn't tell me who you are, child. My, so young and what a life you've lived." 

Behind the Being, images began to flash. A dozen tiny monitors and windows into Catra's life. Changing and shifting between different moments, but so many of which Catra saw herself in the past few years. To watch as a passenger through the actions of her own eyes. 

The capturing of so many towns, storms and seiges. Every argument, every betrayal and heartbreak. Every moment she ever felt pain or suffered, they all seemed to be there infront of her. Electrocuted by Shadow Weaver as a child for every misdeed, every time she made Adora cry and relished in her suffering, every time she refused to give Scorpia the light of day, every night she spent crying herself to sleep because she was frustrated or in self-loathing. 

"I.." Catra stammered, looking at all these screens of herself with tears in her eyes. 

The Being stared at each and every one, standing beside Catra. 

"Why are you showing me this? Who are you?" She asked, almost defeatedly.

The Being paused, trying to pick the right words.

"I am the person who created that potion you just drank. Phoenix Fire. It's a very potent solution that toys with biomancy, or the magic that correlates to biological and physiological enhancements. It's a powerful practice that my people don't take lightly, and we were invaded many years ago by a species that sought to abuse these powers. Now we have these limiters, a judge in every solution to see if you are worthy of the Phoenix's gift." 

The Being exposited, placing a talon on Catra's back and leading her away.

"You, I sadly believe, are not worthy." 

"Story of my life." Catra muttered, hanging her head.

The Being stopped, confused. 

"Really? No arguments with that judgement? Typically, this is the part where someone tries to plead their case as to what makes them worthy.” 

Catra glared back at this thing. She couldn't believe it. Her emotions welled up inside her after all the pain and suffering, firing out of her like a geyser.

"I saw my past; I know what I am. I know I'm not worthy of some magical cure-all. I'm already fucking dead; you don't have to rub it in! I died protecting cures meant for countless lives, but you just want to show me why it doesn't matter. I gave my all because I wanted to be better. I wanted to finally DO better! But it's still not enough, and now here I am. End of my rope with not a whole lot to show for it. So no, no I'm not fucking worthy!"

The Being, though just an inky black mass seemed to stare into her in silence. Suddenly laughing. 

"Wonderful. Just wonderful you are." She spoke, circling around Catra.

"You're exactly what I was looking for."

"What?" Now it was Catra's turn to be confused. The Being snapped her fingers again. Showing some of the more recent things Catra had done.

Resisting the Compliance, Taking Glimmer's place for Interrogation, The Rational and Well-meaning acts she had done to protect her. The moment where she was alone on the pipe, shielding the vaccines with her body, for all she knew Glimmer and Tactus were dying and at great personal risk she peeked out to fire some potshots to help them.

A few older clips mixing in, the moments when she had looked after Adora as a kid, the will to push down her own feelings of inadequacy to lift her up. The party in the Crimson Wastes and giving Scorpia Tung Lashor's jacket.

"You care so much, bottling up so much passion and your feelings because this is what you were taught to do. But a person isn't just the environment they grow up in, but who they choose to be. You wore that mark once, the one that destroyed my home, but you are not them, are you?"

The Being turned to Catra, bending down to be at eye level. For barely a moment, she saw her.

A Barn Owl, her eyes radiant and lavender. Her feathers a bluish white, with a curved little pearl colored beak. Purple trim circling her face in an almost heart-like shape. 

"Do you know why the owl hoots? It's a question. _Always_ a question."

Those eyes burned in their gaze, and Catra finally felt her heartbeat in her chest again. 

"Hoo. Who are you?" 

The Being's talon prodded into Catra's chest, and she felt a fire burn from the tip, encompassing her body. Something was crawling its way out of her, all the way up her throat.

The place she was in faded away, giving way to the familiarity of the bomber bay.

Catra stood up suddenly, screeching into the air. Fire escaping from her mouth and washing over her, engulfing her in ultra-violet embers.

She breathed it out, just as it had breathed new life into her. Her hair had turned into a mane of flames, her claws had lengthened and sharpened, her teeth grew from her maw. She had to hold herself as her body changed, her heart beating with the force of a drum.

Her tail had regrown, her wounds sealed underneath purple fur. But her tail was tipped at the end with another little ball of fire.

She felt, _Bigger. Taller. Stronger._ The beat in her chest a war drum, sending wave after wave of endorphins into her skull. Her skin itched, and she clawed at the side of her face in anxiety. Drawing blood from wounds that healed instantly.

She stood in the light of the bomber bay, reborn.

Catra turned her head to where Glimmer was.

In the midst of her rebirth, Catra’s howls and purple lights had distracted the Queen, and yes, even the soldiers that had come to fight her.

The group of them, for a single moment of solidarity had stopped fighting, practically freeze-framed to gawk at the sight they had just witnessed.

Glimmer stared at the purple beast, which despite all reason, she knew that massive flaming lion standing on two legs could only be Catra.

“Catra is that you?” Glimmer questioned, still unsure of her judgements.

Confidently she stood, approaching with a sway to her hips as she twirled her tail in her hands.

“You’d better fuckin’ believe I am!” Her voice thundered out, getting down on all fours and storming forward into the fray with all the force and power of a freight train.

“OH, FUCK ME!” one of the clones exclaimed, taking his eyes off Glimmer and shooting wildly at Catra, the rest quickly following suit.

Some of the shots seemed to be overwhelmed by the sheer heat coming off Catra, dissipating, but the few that hit didn’t even have time to leave a mark. Her wounds healing too rapidly for her to even feel the pain. She was regenerating faster than they could even sling down shots.

She slashed at the air with her claws, sending white-hot burning rays towards them. 4 massive slashes for each of her individual claws.

The waves hit them like storms, overwhelming their armors and knocking them down from the sheer pain as it burned through.

Glimmer took this opportunity to get a few hits in while the Guards were distracted by Catra. Aiming her hands behind her head to nail the two guards behind her with photokinetic blasts.

Taking her staff after and whipping around to hit another guard in their spine, causing them to crumble and hit the ground from the wind being knocked out of them. Well, that or a broken spine. At this point, Glimmer didn’t really care all that much to hold back, just as she hadn’t when she thought Catra was dead.

Another wave of reinforcements started to pour through the doors, Catra and Glimmer found themselves suddenly side by side as more clones poured in.

Glimmer quickly noticing that Catra was suddenly far taller than she was before. Feeling her heart thump in her chest in excitement. She had at first been worried about the heat she seemed to be radiating, but it must’ve somehow been able to distinguish between friend and foe, cause at this moment she felt an odd sense of warmth.

Stranger still, ever since Catra had changed into this, Glimmer oddly felt the pain from the many grazing shots, and even the discomfort in her head disperse. Her jaw had even begun to feel better.

She wasn’t quite sure if she was just so relieved to see Catra back up that her pain had dissipated, or if whatever she had turned into had some radiant healing properties as well.

“Loving the makeover.” She coyly remarked.

“Oh, you _would_, think my clothes burned off when I changed into this.” Catra shot back, looking down at her body. It was hard to tell if she was even still wearing anything under all the extra fuzz that had grown, and she didn’t exactly have a mirror to work with.

Glimmer was staring at the encroaching reinforcements, looking at the top catwalks of the bomberbay, then down to the doors. Piecing together a plan.

“We gotta talk about what the fuck happened to you later, step one of ‘Princess Shenanigans’ I learned is sometimes you just gotta…”

Firing off a concentrated beam to saw off the catwalks and break the rolling doors of the bomberbay. Sealing off the doors and crushing some of the reinforcements, effectively splitting them in half.

“Roll with it.” Glimmer grinned at the commotion caused, Catra cracking her neck in anticipation as more clones piled in.

“I’m taking these ones.” Catra declared, grinning wildly with manic glee.

Glimmer looked Catra up and down. With the display she had just seen she almost certainly was capable of it.

“Feel free. Know where Tactus is?”

Catra had almost forgotten about the bird for a minute, suddenly feeling guilt since he had kinda saved her life. Cocking her head in the direction he went.

“He went to go distract the Major while you were unconscious. Go find him and call me. This shouldn’t take but a couple minutes, and if The Major is still alive I wanna take a crack at him.”

Glimmer’s face turned to horror. Tactus was capable, as evidenced by his fighting in the medbay. But he was still just a field medic, and a crazy one at that for trying to take on The Major. A twinge of pain from her jaw reminded her of that horrific moment, and she took off to find him. Dashing away with one of her ‘Blinks’.

Catra watched her leave, and she could’ve sworn she saw something through her clothes had been glowing before she left.

But rather than question it too much, she decided to take Glimmer’s advice and decided to ignore it for now. She was staring down an entire small platoon and for once, there was no sense of death or worry. No half-suicidal wish to die in combat so she wouldn’t have to face tomorrow.

She felt the drumbeat of her heart tell her that she was going to not just fight.

She was going to win.

* * *

“And by that fire, you will be enflamed.”

The Field Medic says, reaching into his bag. He saw the fist of the Major coming for him, and that was just what he wanted.

The Major’s movements were too focused on hitting the spot where Tactus was, and not where he was going to be. Too much time focused on one spot hitting the same thing over and over again, and the speech had confused him.

Tactus swayed to his left, just barely avoiding the Major’s right hook as it sailed past him. In a motion as quick as lightning Tactus found the item he was looking for, pulling out the foldout plasma bonesaw.

Using it as a weapon was out of the question, but as he was saying his speech, and how close he was to the Major, even with his poor sense of smell he could still smell the disinfecting alcohol he had thrown onto him earlier.

To use the Bonesaw as a weapon was in poor taste, but as an ignitionary tool for cauterization of a large section of skin? Why it was just within his bounds as a medical officer that he felt, were any of the other medical professionals from his world still alive and capable of judgement, such an action in a stressful situation would earn him a medal for creativity alone.

He flicked on the button, as he spun around the Major’s blow, slipping behind him and tossing the lit bonesaw past his head. The heat igniting the alcohol and setting half his face ablaze.

The Major let out a blood curdling scream, collapsing against the wall as the flames blocked his vision, trying desperately to flop to the ground and use the time tested method of “Stop Drop and Roll” to smother the flames.

Tactus turned, facing the burning Major and flapped his wings twice, to fan the flames which was engulfing the Major’s entire right side. Feeding them with air.

A sudden burst of light and a howl filled the air, Tactus turning away from the Major and seeing a massive flash of purple in the direction of where Glimmer and Catra were.

He stared at that familiar color, he had seen it before in the heat of battle. A signal with no other trace except from his home planet. His eyes growing wide. It couldn’t be. What would be the odds?

Phoenix Fire? After all this time?

Tactus felt the shifting of the Major’s movements on the ground. The crazy bastard was actually going to get back up. He turned his back to him, trying to launch himself up but felt a crack at his back which sent him to the ground in agony.

Feeling his wing growing limp at his side from the repeated blows it had taken.

Even despite the shield he had put up, the Major’s fists had broken through and done their damage. His wings were never the best, but so soon after being able to fly he found himself grounded once again as a result of the Horde.

He looked as his wing, watching it limply flop and feeling a sharp stabbing pain. It wasn’t the first time he had broken a bone, but he could at least briefly be thankful that it wasn’t shattered and just merely snapped. With the Major getting back up, that might not even be true for much longer.

Tactus crawled to his feet, as the half-burned Major took a breather on all fours. The both of them exhausted and trying to recover. Tactus hadn’t done anything cardio related in years, and The Major hadn’t seen live-combat in half a decade. Having focused entirely on maintaining his muscles for show rather than actual practical use.

He slammed his fists into the ground, propelling himself up to his feet. Tactus trying to climb over a series of crates to be visible to the main clearing in the bomberbay. The ship hadn’t taken off yet, and the Phoenix Fire was taken only moments ago, if they had not only taken it but survived, then that person was surely a powerful ally.

He didn’t know where they had gotten it from, nor did he care. He was willing to take Catra’s same route of dying for this cause, but with a new opportunity arising he too had changed his tune.

He had nearly gotten over the top to shout for help, the word’s not even having a chance to escape from his collar when an iron grip came down upon him. Like the cold grip of death, it pulled him back. His talons digging into the metal shipping container and carving through it like butter, offering him no grip.

Without even a moment to think, Tactus felt himself pulled back, the Major taking Tactus’ entire head into a meaty palm. Slamming his head down hard on the corner of the crate.

* * *

Glimmer darted around the bomberbay, hearing Catra’s rampage through the clones. Looking back and seeing her plow through the line, ignoring the blasterfire and summoning flames from her fingertips. A giant flaming purple whip came from them which she slashed through the army with ease. She was incredible and wild, just when it looked like she was about to be overwhelmed she seemed to burn brighter and slam through whatever was in her way.

Amazing as she was, Glimmer couldn’t appreciate it. They were surrounded by heavy munitions, and whether Catra was in the state of mind to realize it or not, all her outburst was on the verge of bringing the whole bomberbay down or igniting any of the ordnance.

She blinked from box to box, frantically looking for some way to spot Tactus quicker. Glancing up at the Catwalks and blinking up there with a leap. It took more effort than a teleport, but it was all she could do here with the blockers. Dashing along the catwalks as her frustration and worry mounted, an uncomfortable pulsing sensation on her back did nothing to help her.

Suddenly she heard a loud metallic banging noise. Catra was too far away for it to be her, which led to only one possibility, as she looked in the direction it had came from. Bolting towards it.

* * *

Tactus felt his eyesocket crack, The Major tossing Tactus back down to the steel ground on his back. His other wing snapping and dislocating entirely. His vision going red from his eye damage, the eye already discolored with blood gushing down the front of his face.

“HEL-” Tactus was quickly silenced.

The Major coming over to the downed bird, placing his boot over his collar and pressing down on the speaker, leaning forward as it strained. The rubber sole blocking it entirely.

“I’ve heard you talk enough!”

Tactus reached up with his talons, trying to claw his way through the Major’s boot, but his attempts only encouraged the Major to increase the pressure. Tactus could hear the collar start to crack.

Tactus stared up, looking at the Major as he felt the collar crack. Knowing his neck was sure to be next. Gripping down on his leg with his hands as tight as he could, hearing the bones underneath start to strain. If he was going to die, the last thing he wanted to do was to cripple this bastard for life.

The Major was burned, had a good hunk of his face blasted off, and his leg was about to be broken by this crazy bird. Even if he did win, he knew that he was no longer fit for duty, especially after the failure of containment that was sure to result in one of the biggest internal catastrophes the Horde had ever seen. If he survived, he’d be executed anyways, he wanted to at least die knowing that he had finally killed this bird once and for all.

Out of his remaining good eye, Tactus saw a purple glint high above the Major.

Descending, like a burst of purple stardust, though in Tactus’ opinion, Stardust would have to take lessons from her in beauty.

She exploded like a supernova of light, rage fueling her as she took a running leap from a catwalk. She was low on magic, but much like the reaction in Tactus’ body that had occurred minutes prior, a similar one had taken it’s time in her.

The overwhelming amount of energy all at once, from the rage to the stress, to the overwhelming need to take action had finally manifested.

In that burst of energy, erupting from Glimmer’s back like two ribbons was a pair of wings. Not the long elegant wings her mother had, but two nimble wings. Made for precision and fast movements like a hummingbird’s.

She dive-bombed with her father’s staff in hand, swinging it down like an expert logsplitter.

“GET OFF HIM, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

The last thing the Major saw in his few seconds of consciousness left, was a glittering pink Queen holding a staff stained blue.

He stumbled back, suddenly feeling sick, falling back. Cleft in two.

A tiny metal chip falling out of what was left of the Major’s head. Shattering on impact with the ground.

Glimmer was flying in the air, oddly proud of herself despite the grisly results.

She glanced back at her newfound wings, a soft smile on her face. She thought it was about time she finally earned those. All that diplomacy would never have let those appear, her mother was right. She always did have too much of her father in her.

Her feet touched the ground beside Tactus, looking down at the broken bird.

“You still alive?” She offered her hand to him. Tactus sat up, staring at her amazed at her new wings. Staring at her intently for a few seconds, the two of them realizing in sync that not only was there an uncomfortable silence, but that Tactus wasn’t speaking.

He reached up to his neck in shock, looking down at his chest, only just registering that his collar had broken off his body. Feeling around for the pieces he found the wire ends that kept his collar working, connecting them to the other end where his speaker was.

“Testing. Testing. 1. 2. 3.” His collar bleated out, and despite his injuries, the bird smiled at Glimmer. His new rudimentary salvage of the speaking piece and wiring working wonderfully.

“Feeling free as a Bird. Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon.”

Glimmer smiled, extending a hand out and helping Tactus up to his feet. He wasn’t looking great, but now they’d just have to finally get out of there.

He looked down at the Major’s body, crouching down slowly and peeling the Major’s visor off his corpse, a welcome prize and future benefit to the rebellion. Skulking deeper to grab the bonesaw.

“Tactus, we need to move. Now. Catra’s about to bring this place down! She’s uh, she’s fine by the way! Looks a little different.”

Tactus turned to Glimmer, narrowing his good eye.

“I was wondering which of you took Phoenix Fire. Given the two of you, I’m glad it was her considering her condition. Didn’t know we even had any.”

He said, unsure of himself. On one hand he was frustrated that she had drunken any of it when he wasn’t even made aware of its existence. But, had he known there was any left he might’ve given her some anyways. If there was any luck, she had grabbed more then just one vial.

He looked over the visor briefly, and though he couldn’t see the best over it, he placed it on over his bad eye. If he couldn’t see that well, the best that eye could provide was some feedback at least.

The heartbeat sensor was still flicked on, and he could see the heartbeats through walls, many heartbeats suddenly stopping just past Glimmer and on the other side of that shipping container.

He felt significantly more ok with Catra’s consumption of the Phoenix Fire at that sight. She was truly making good use of that potion.

“Call her over, the Phoenix Fire potion has a healing radius around the user for allies in combat. It’s kinda made for big pushes forward, but I could use some of that bonus healing right now.” Tactus asks, kneeling down to tend to his wounds from what he had in his bag. Putting some disinfectant on the broken skin under his eye, wincing with pain.

Glimmer tried to be sympathetic, since he clearly didn’t see what she had seen. Even this area oddly felt cooler than the rest of the bomberbay.

“Heal on the ship, Catra is bringing this place down with the heat she’s giving off. We need to move now.”

Tactus’ jaw clenched. This was not going to be fun. “Ok, lead the way. But…he broke one of my wings and dislocated the other, so flying isn’t really an option for me right now.”

“Oh, shut up and come here.” Glimmer insisted, flying towards him and picking him up under the arms with ease.

“Wow, you are way lighter than I expected.” She says, pretty sure he weighed less than some of the chestplates she had worn into battle before. Tactus blushing through his feathers.

“Thank you.” He said, fighting back tears of gratitude. It was nice for someone to care for him for once.

She flew with him, bridal style up and over the crate. The two of them seeing the bloodbath that Catra had left behind. Small explosions were popping off from ammunition crates, with a chain reaction nearing ever closer.

There were bits of clones all over, and the floor was starting to melt.

Catra stood panting, her purple hue fading, and her flames dying down. She had gotten out some much needed anger and was calming down. Falling to one knee.

“Stronger than all of you…I’m a fucking survivor! DO YOU HEEEEEREEE MEEE? None of you can even fucking touch me! You don’t have the power to do a thing to me!” She bragged, still riding the partial high the Phoenix Fire had given her, but it was clearly waning.

“It’s wearing off, we need to move and get her out of here before she passes out.” Tactus demanded, as Glimmer set him back down on the other side.

“Will she be ok?”

“She should be. She’s still got the Phoenix colors but her timer’s almost up. She’ll-“

“Turn back to normal right? Maybe minus all the damage?” Glimmer hypothesized, seeing Catra stumble a bit.

“Yes, how did you know?”

“Let’s just say Etheria has something pretty similar to how your Phoenix magic works. Come on, we better grab her and run while we can.”

“CATRA” Tactus called out, walking towards her. Feeling energy increase in his pace as he got closer. His eye stopped bleeding, and his wing relocated itself. His other which had been only slightly broken suddenly bonded itself. It wasn’t flight ready, but he had gone through about a couple weeks-worth of healing in an instant.

Catra turned her head, suddenly feeling woozy. She felt like she was drunk. Her senses slowing back down. Her heart had been pumping hard, and her body had undergone a ton.

Tactus saw her heartbeat on the scanner, and his blood ran cold.

“She’s about to change back, brace yourself!” He blurted, rushing towards her still.

“Brace for wh-“ Glimmer asked, the ache in her jaw magnified all of a sudden.

“AH” she cried out, feeling the pain where her teeth had been knocked out as awfully as if it had just happened. Her joints ached from all the fighting, and her fatigue smacked her like a wife smacks her husband with a rolling pin.

Tactus collapsed again. His own pain hitting him once more, the previously numbed pain of his wounds healing temporary had finally caught up as the power radiating from Catra slowly collapsed inwards.

It was the drawback to the Phoenix Fire’s healing. All the radiant healing was powerful and effective, but the moment just before it were to stop the pain would return. Thankfully in Catra’s case, as the drinker she was fine.

Catra’s mane of fire intensified, suddenly overtaking Catra as it burned. Her purple coloring dissipating with it, along with her added height.

Her fur took on it’s typical shade of orange, her hair it’s typical brown. Even her eyes remained as heterochromic as they had been before. The most noticeable change, was that she was in the best shape she had ever been in her entire life. Well, that and a big purple furred spot where she had been shot clean through. WELL. That wasn’t the only noticeable thing either.

Catra groaned in displeasure after changing back.

“You’re kidding me.” She stood up, totally naked.

“This isn’t fair you know! Adora gets to keep her clothes!”

Tactus averted his eyes out of respect. He should’ve expected her to somehow not pass out after. He wasn’t quite sure why he was still surprised at the cat’s resilience.

“Priorities please!” He shouts, turning to the direction of the ship. Grabbing the box of vaccines that Catra had left behind where she had almost bled out. Rushing into the Bomber to prep it for takeoff. 

“Come on Catrah.” Glimmer spoke, her entire mouth now feeling weird again. Pretty sure her cheek was swelling up now too. Trying not to stare too hard or look back at Catra too much as she followed Tactus into the ship.

Catra looked back at the bomberbay. The catwalks were collapsing, and most of the place was on fire. She was almost thankful to not be wearing clothes with how hot things were going.

Sprinting to keep up, she made it to the open Bomber, leaping in and slamming the button on the side next to the door. Not even looking back at the hell they had just escaped from as it disappeared behind the closing metal door.


	20. Flying The Coop

The floor of the ship felt cold under Catra’s feet. Prime’s entire base had felt cold, but something about this moment felt the most chilling.

Moments ago, she had been dead, well and truly dead. Yet now she was about to fly off into the infinite with Glimmer, someone she had previously fought on numerous occasions. Potentially to the death, and now they were allies.

The strange Owl, whose mouth never moved and yet he still spoke. Speaking fluently and eloquently for far longer than she’d like. She was ready to go, even if the past few days had felt like an eternity. It had maybe only been 72 hours. But they felt like an eternity.

Though as she looked at the Owl’s half-beaten face and the amount of time he spent talking, coupled with the complicated feelings she had for the Queen, she very quickly was able to comprehend exactly why the past few days on Horde Prime’s ship had taken so long.

Naked as the day she was born, she flopped onto the floor, just barely making it as the door slid closed.

“GET US THE FUCK OUTTA HERE” She shouted, feeling odd tremors from the inside of the bomberbay. The entire place wasn’t just about to collapse, it was going to explode. She wasn’t quite sure how large of a blow their armaments were going to be, but she surely did not wish to find out.

Tactus had thankfully been prepping the ship since he got in. It was a rush job and he wasn’t that familiar with the workings. But enough slow years and fake smiles with guards had gotten him at least semi familiar, plus old intel from his days back fighting in Aviaria.

A lot of the ships did their flying on their own based on a set path and predetermined guidelines based on battle plans days in advance before they were set to go.

It wasn’t a complete file, but the system read it clear enough, and at the press of a few buttons the ship roared to life and sped out of the bomberbay.

Flying past the shield that separated the cold outside of space and the inside of the somehow colder ship. Belched out like a cannonshot from a mighty gun it zoomed across the stars, just in time as the ordnance within the bay detonated from the extreme conditions. Ripping a sizable hole in the massive space station.

Cracking it like a cheap cracker one takes a bite from. To any inferior station, the blast would’ve been a deathblow. The force could be felt throughout the entirety of Prime’s citadel, even the ruler himself had felt the rock from his personal shower, slipping and busting his entire alabaster rear on the marble of his tub.

Panting in fear he crawled out of his shower. The sanctity of safety within one of the few places he felt safest rocking him to his core. Slamming his closed and enraged fist down on a nearby button.

His hotline straight to the officer in charge of the station’s monitoring.

Horde Prime did not bother grabbing a towel, standing there nude and furious should’ve sent a good enough message.

“STATUS REPORT OFFICER.”

On the other side of the screen clones were running in panic and collecting data from machines. The Head Officer pulled up his docket, reading it off.

“14 Percent of the Citadel was entirely destroyed, with an extra 23 percent of the Citadel citing at least minimal damage.Power has outed in sectors 45-6 through 82-10. The Major’s chip reported him being KIA seconds before it was shattered. Entirety of our Bomber Bay and Fleet is FUBAR’d. But one ship was reported to have made it out, your excellency! It’s going off the auto-route at this moment.”

Prime, being aware of the situation to some degree before this was utterly shocked. He had heard that the Etherian Queen, The Horde Feline, and even the Aviarian Prince were in the middle of an escape attempt. Full confidence in his clone capabilities to handle 1 overgrown housecat, a soft royal, and a singular field medic, Prime didn’t expect things to get this bad so quick.

He mentally chastised himself for underestimating their capabilities. Though in fairness, he couldn’t have expected them to do _nearly_ this much damage to his beloved Citadel. The only other time he had ever so greatly underestimated an enemy was the moment his scouts told him of a planet filled with a bunch of dumb birds fighting over _race_ of all things.

The last thing he had expected then was for them all to band together in hatred of him and hold their own in a war that lasted 20 fucking years!

Still, their advances in medicine had helped Prime like never before to improve his army. Better weeding out the inferior genes and maladies that afflicted so many of his weaker stock. Stock that he abhorred had been taken from samples of his own flesh.

‘Yes, adversity is the key to evolution!’ Prime thought to himself.

‘Few can stand at the top, and through this adversity I shall become victorious and more powerful, just as I deserve.’ Chanted his own narcissistic motivation.

“Ensure that the auto-seals have activated around the destroyed portions of the ship. Divert power from the barracks if need be. If any troops complain, see that they are culled. We must all make sacrifices so that my goal can be seen. Oh yes, and if it isn’t clear enough already, see that a ship is sent out to meet with that bomber and blast it out of the sky.”

Prime smiled devilishly, thinking about all the information the Major and the Science Team had acquired.

“I have all I need from everyone on board. Leave no survivors.”

* * *

Setting the course was the easy part. The flight plans were already set for Etheria.

The Bomber was small comparative to it’s devastation capabilities. Tactus sat in the pilot’s chair, looking at the interface before him in a confused splendor, which he was unable to fully comprehend at first.

There was a dashboard directly infront of him with all sorts of dials and touchpads to manipulate the course and trajectory. Readouts of the ships’ status and fuel levels. This was expected. But all around him were holograms to display the infinite majesty of space.

A direct feed to the outside of the bomber in all directions. The holograms and displays made him feel exposed, as if the walls were made of glass and he sat merely in a bubble. His life frail and delicately in the balance.

The Visor Tactus wore linked up with the ship, providing additional readouts for him. He could see geometric shapes which seemed to lock onto whatever large object was close at any point. Horrified, he realized his visor had synced up with the main guns of the ship and he was in control of the means of death.

He was not cut out for a position as pilot, his head swiveling around looking in all directions in horror as they passed by so many horde ships. The only thing that prevented any of them from blasting their tiny bomber out of the sky was the Friend-Or-Foe systems on their ships.

The codes designating the bomber as an ally signaling to the other ships that they were not a threat. Forcing their targeting computers to ignore them. It wouldn’t be long before they overrid the controls, but god forbid that any of them went crazy and decided to use old fashioned manual targeting.

“Tactus! Give us the ETA to Etheria.” Glimmer commanded, coming up behind him in the cockpit.

Refocused, and pushing his fears away, Tactus looked at the console which designated their speed versus the distance they were from their target. With a quick calculation he spat out a number.

“ETA is 18 minutes. Fuel is good, and we appear to be well armed.”

“How the fuck is anyone supposed to fly this thing…” Catra questioned in shock, looking at the sheer view from every direction.

“Nobody would ever be able to look in so many directions at once.”

Tactus’ head turned a full 180 degrees to look behind himself at Catra. Causing her to recoil. That still weirded her out, and being naked right now didn’t help.

“I suppose that just leaves me then, eh?” He half-boasted, averting his eyes from her when he remembered the state he was in, turning his head a further 90 degrees to look at Glimmer to his right. Giving her a confident wink before his head whipped back around to it’s starting position, looking straight forward. 

If he could only feign the confidence long enough to get them out of this, maybe he could believe in his own capabilities for this task.

“How long till they start chasing us?” Glimmer asks, looking at all the ships around them. A few in the process of turning around to add additional guard to the Prime Citadel in its fractured state.

“Let’s just get the fuck outta here before they do.” Catra retorts, their bomber flying steadily along. It was small and relatively fast, but compared to the behemoth sized dreadnoughts the Horde had flying, it was like an insect before a massive boot.

“I’m going to need one of you to man the launching system for the ordnance in the back.” Tactus says, not quite sure how that all worked but just saying whatever made sense.

Fortunately, at least one of the people here had some idea of how that type of thing works.

“Explosions and lots of fire power? I call dibs.” Catra excitedly chattered, running off. Tactus being considerately thankful as she dashed to the back of the bomber.

“Thank god, her lack of clothes made me uncomfortable.” He muttered, Glimmer snickering.

“Big words from you, since just about everytime I’ve seen you, one of the first things you do is you pull off your shirt.”

“Hey, when you get wings y-“ Tactus paused, looking at Glimmer’s wings poking out from behind her back. She nodded with an amused little smile. Pointing at them as if to say

‘Uh-huh, what were you saying?’

Tactus held his tongue for a moment.

“Oh right…we gotta talk about those later. Among other things.” He cocked his head back to where Catra had went.

“Talk about what?”

“Just…” Tactus looked Glimmer up and down, then back in Catra’s direction. Turning back to her, seemingly worried.

“Health concerns. Phoenix Fire consumption and…whatever energy spike caused _that_.” He says, concerned about the big purple wings on Glimmer’s back. Glimmer waved a hand.

“Don’t worry, it’s genetic. Got it from my mom’s side.”

Tactus snorted.

“Hmph, explains those odd birthmarks at least.”

The entire ship suddenly rocked. Glimmer nearly falling over, grabbing onto the back of Tactus’ chair for support. A loud thunk being heard in the back. The lights in the cockpit flashing, and the shields around the ship blinked for a second.

“What was THAT” Glimmer shrieked, looking around for anything. Spotting a small squadron of about 8 smaller ships which were suddenly in pursuit. Tactus saw the blips of them appear on his radar. They had manually fired upon them. 

“GAH FUCK. TACTUS!” Catra hissed out from all the way in the back of the Bomber, having stumbled over while carrying a shell for the ordinance launcher.

“HOLD THE THING STEADY DAMMIT”

“WE’VE BEEN HIT” Tactus cried back.

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE TACTUS” Catra fumes as she figures out the way to load the cannon on this ship. Looking at the weirdly shaped shell size compared to the loading port.

“YOU HAD ONE JOB.”

“DAMMIT CATRA, I’M A MEDIC NOT A PILOT!”

Tactus shouted back, trying to make sense of what was going on.

If they were on a fixed path, then the other ships knew exactly where they were going to move. Etheria was an obvious target to arrive at generally, but they didn’t need to evade them past Etheria, just long enough to shake the pursuing ships.

“Tactus, we’re on a bomber right? That means this thing has bombs on it?”

“Fire it back at them, of course.” Tactus nodded, he was already on that same step for the most part. Looking around the cockpit for the right button. Pressing one of them. A hologram appearing infront of him in a U shape, directly infront of his chest.

Tactus reached his hands out to grip it, and lightly twisted it around to test. Finding the ship moved with his touch. Yes, this was it. The manual flight controls.

“You know how to do this?”

Tactus grinned. He had another distinct advantage up his sleeve.

“You would not believe the amount of research I put into learning how to fly with wings before I actually could. So to answer? Theoretically. Yes.”

He pressed forward on the controls, suddenly nosediving downwards. The small squadron took notice and began firing again. The pilots were also flying on manual and having to fire with manual controls for targeting and aiming. Their shots missing by wide margins due to this new issue.

Thankfully, the ship had its own internal gravity. But the sight of them suddenly shifting made Glimmer feel sick and dizzy. Their ship diving and speeding. Bending and curving around the shots with all the grace of a bird in flight.

“CATRA! FIND THE SHELL WITH SEVERAL DOTS ON THE SIDE OF IT!” Tactus ordered. He wasn’t sure if the Horde still used the same markings as they did when he was a kid, but it was worth a shot. If this was a bomber, then they had to have a fletchlet shell. He remembered how devastating that could be to see so many little bombs raining down, and giving the Horde a taste of their own medicine sat well with him.

“I’M ON IT.” Rang her voice from the back, looking for the right shell.

“Glimmer, I can’t fire it myself. My vows prevent me. But you can.” He says, looking down at a pedal on the floor. It was one of the few things that had remained still this entire time. It was the only thing he could reasonably say was capable of being activated even without the manual controls. It had to be the firing mechanism.

Glimmer spotted it too, placing her foot over it and holding onto the back of Tactus’ chair as they zoomed through space.

“Just tell me when, and we’ll get them.” 

It was the perfect loophole. At least in Tactus’ mind. If he could heal people who would eventually fight the battles he would also fight. Was he not already aiming for them to a specific goal and task? Aiming with his sight now could be justified then.

His head spun around, looking for openings and ways to avoid further hits. Spotting a small cluster of space debris, darting through them and narrowly avoiding the bigger hunks of trash. A large metal desk colliding with one of the pursuing ships and being sheared in half. Shots flying past them over and over.

“FOUND IT.” Catra roared, finally spotting the shell amongst all the other ordnance shells that had toppled in the previous assault. Loading it in quickly and with ease.

The pedal lit up, Tactus and Glimmer locked eye contact.

“On my signal.” He uttered, waiting patiently as he listened carefully. Watching the stream of plasma bolts rush past them through space. Counting the timing and trajectory of each shot, trying to figure out the exact perfect moment he could make his maneuver without getting blown away.

There was a single second interval inbetween the alternating fire of the ships. In that second he struck. Flipping around in the ship, flying upwards to loop back around and be angled downwards ontop of the squadron. Tactus staring straight down at them, having them dead to rights in his sights.

“FIRE” Chirped Tactus, Glimmer slamming her foot down on the pedal hard.

The launcher belched the shell’s contents out. The massive blast separating into a few dozen smaller bombs right in the pathway of the incoming fighters. The fighters colliding with the practical minefield of tiny explosives. 

One ship spun off, punching through a shield of a massive dreadnought ship and exploding on impact. It was almost comical in the way it was fried on impact, like a bug in a zapper.

The main gun on the dreadnought ship slowly began to turn in the bomber’s direction, but its movements were too slow for the small powerful ship. Tactus diving back down and heading in the direction of Etheria, narrowly avoiding a blast of plasma as wide as a small house.

“Took out the small fighters! We’re almost home free till Etheria!” Tactus declared, Glimmer watching beside him in amazement.

“What about that REALLY big one with the REALLY BIG GUN? We can’t just let that make its way to Etheria.”

“FUCK THAT! Let’s just get home!” Catra’s voice echoed out.

Although he knew the danger of staying too long, they were already overstaying their welcome, Tactus could never turn down an opportunity to make the Horde pay just a little more.

“Catra. Load the biggest one you got back there! We’re giving them one last hurrah and getting out of here!”

“YOU BOTH ARE FUCKING CRAZY” Catra exclaimed, though she had to admit this felt really good. Grabbing the biggest and heaviest looking shell she could find. She didn’t understand which was which or just how this machine worked, but she didn’t need to know that. She just knew it meant death for Prime’s advances and that meant enough for her. Loading the massive round in.

Tactus flying the ship around the Dreadnought. He was about to make one risky as hell decision. He didn’t necessarily need to take out the dreadnought, just the entire massive gun. The best way to hit the most of it therefore, was to fire down the barrel.

“TACTUS?!?” Glimmer’s voice quavered out. Starting to regret her decision to do this as she saw the massive barrel slowly catch up with them. Seeing a light dimly shine through. Tactus staring straight down that barrel, eyes keen and focused.

The light under the pedal lit up and Tactus screamed again.

“FIRE.”

Glimmer slamming her foot back down instinctively. The massive shell firing a blast straight down the massive gun of the dreadnought. Having underestimated the firepower of the Bomber, the dreadnought's entire central section shattered under the concussive force. Cracking it and causing shards to explode outwards from it.

The tiny bomber being wracked by shrapnel, the bigger chunks being eradicated by their shields and turning them into bitesized little pellets of death. The entire bomber shook and rattled, Glimmer nearly falling over, but Tactus gripped her arm tightly in worry, his talons accidentally digging into her skin and cutting her, but she remained standing.

Getting to her feet and rubbing her scratched up arm.

“Thanks.”

Another hard series of thunks were heard in the back of the bomber as the shells toppled over Catra.

“GOD. FUCK.” She cursed, peeling herself out of the pile of ordnance. Standing in the doorway of the cockpit in a second.

“Get us the _FUCK_ HOME BIRDBRAIN.” 

“As you command!” Tactus affirmed gleefully. Almost sad he had to take his eyes off the falling apart dreadnought ship as their own damaged bomber flew in the direction of Etheria.

“ETA 10 minutes!” Tactus exposited, they were making good time despite that small detour. A concerning beep came from one of the consoles.

The message it gave them quickly shattered their confidence.

The blinking light of the “low fuel” gauge. Tactus turning his head to look behind the bomber. Little droplets of bright glowing fuel littering the space behind them as their ship neared Etheria closer and closer. Just as it was coming into sight and they would surely come into it’s gravitational pull in minutes time with their trajectory.

The fueltanks likely having been punctured as the shrapnel of the Dreadnoughts’ explosion.

“Oh…That’s not good.”

* * *

Emily’s metallic claws clacked against the floors of Brightmoon. Crawling steadfastly as it tried to approach the pair she saw infront of her. A button lit up on her face as she beeped and whistled trying to catch their attention. The two were in a heated argument and did not hear her.

“Adora, I want to save Glimmer as much as you do. But even with Mara’s ship we don’t have the capabilities to man such an attack. We don’t even have She-Ra…No offense.”

“I know Bow, I know. But the Princesses could…”

“The rest of them are trying to hold their own and keep a hold of what land they have while these new Space Horde are starting to occupy villages. Haven’t heard from Huntara since this all started either. Same goes to Double Trouble.”

“What? Then who’s even going to be at the war meeting?” The blonde fretted, Bow looked down at his clipboard.

“I’ve got Scorpia, who’s returned from her latest attempt to organize the Etherian Horde for Etheria, Entrapta is Teleconferencing in from her lab. Hence Emily back there. Shadow Weaver is banned from the war meeting under new royal orders, and…” Bow pointed a thumb back at the droid that was following them. Stopping as they reached the doors to the war room. Breathing solemnly as he opened them.

“And…King Micah.”

Adora’s voice caught in her throat as the entire war room came into view. The table was nearly empty, just as it had been at the start of the war.

Micah’s eyes were dead inside. His hopes of returning to his kingdom and so quickly losing his daughter and finding out about his wife’s passing had nearly broken the man. He had been home for several days now, and still he had not bothered to do much to clean himself up. Barely having showered, tying back his hair and putting on some of his old clothes.

They still had noticeable creases where they had remained folded in his dresser for the past 20 years. He had not shaved, he just seemed to exist and work as of late. Drawing up war plans and trying to keep things together.

Scorpia sat not far from him, sitting on a pile of beanbags since she couldn’t quite find a chair that’d fit her. A few odd stitches in the bag from clumsy snips which had spilled the beans.

She was thankful they had arrived, as all her attempts at small talk and cheering up the king hadn’t been working, which had left her in an uncomfortable situation.

Emily scuttling over to Scorpia.

“Aw, come here girl…Still not sure if you even are a girl, but you seem to like that!” Scorpia cooed.

“Who’s the best little bot? You are! It’s you!” she teased, Adora clearing her throat, causing Scorpia to immediately resume attention. Giving Adora a salute.

“New Military force ‘Pincer’ recruited over 400 percent more soldiers yesterday than the previous three days, Sir-Ma’am!”

The numbers sounded nice, but Adora knew that meant only about 80 more troops. Which was good, but not nearly at the numbers they needed.

“Pincer?” Bow Queried.

“Oh yeah, came up with the name myself! Since we’re going to need to drop the horde name, and if you just erase the dot on the middle of most of the uniforms we can change the symbol to look like a scorpion pincer.” Scorpia noted, holding up a drawing she had made of a scorpion pincer.

“Well, you _WOULD_ be able to see that if I just…well…you can see the erase mark of where the dot was. You get the idea, right?” She questioned, looking at Micah for support. The King shrugging

“Yeah…it works.” He deadpanned.

“I’ve been talking with the guard around Brightmoon, we’re thinking of setting up some campgrounds in the vicinity to aid the refugees. See about bringing some of the children in at least to have their schooling done in some of the rooms here in the castle. They’re safer here then anywhere else.” Micah detailed.

“Any luck on She-ra or…developments?” He asked, somewhat hopeful that something may have changed and there’d be a chance to save his daughter.

Adora hung her head in shame.

“No. I’m sorry.”

Bow stood up, trying to bring some good news to the table.

“We tried before, but the Friend-Or-Foe systems on the Horde Fleet above Etheria nearly destroyed Mara’s ship. We can’t even get past unless we get ahold of a code or get one of theirs. But Entrapta said she’d try to see what she could do about that.”

“Hey, has Emily here been lit up this entire time?” Scorpia asks, looking at the light on Emily’s front.

Adora shrugged.

“I don’t know, just about since we met in the hallway with her.”

Scorpia was pretty sure that meant there was an urgent message patching through, or at least A message. But she didn’t feel the need to get all technical at the war room table. Pressing a button on the front of Emily, a holographic screen popping up, giving a view into Entrapta’s seemingly empty laboratory.

Entrapta’s masked head popping into frame, lifting up her welding hood.

“Oh, Hello!” Her nasally voice rang out.

“Was wondering what was wrong, guess you just didn’t pick up…Forget forging a Friend-or-Foe Code! Something AMAZING happened barely an hour ago!”

Micah sat forward in his chair, intensely interested. The scientist prattled on.

“So, there I was in my lab, my machines pointed into the heavens straight at the Horde’s Command Citadel’s location when all my sensors go HAYWIRE. It sensed three massive bursts of magical energy followed by an entire chunk of that think getting blasted clean OFF where the blasts had been! Absolutely crazy!”

Micah’s heart dropped at that, raising his voice.

“IS MY DAUGHTER OKAY?!”

“Who knows?” Entrapta shrugged it off, quickly continuing.

“BUUUT. That’s not even the craziest part, rocketing out of that thing came a horde ship, which if my readings are correct, started to ATTACK the other ships!”

Adora and Bow exchange a quick glance.

“Oh my god.”

“She didn’t.”

Micah’s face lit up with joy.

“That’s daddy’s girl.” He whispered softly.

“SHHH”. Entrapta shushed.

“Not done! Within about 15 minutes after that or about an hour ago, here on Etheria we picked up another energy spike and a small seismic spike as that little Horde Ship, damaged from the firefighting crash lands here on Etheria. THAT’s WHERE WE’LL GET OUR FRIEND-OR-FOE CODE. Plus, hopefully enough tech to salvage to make something INCREDIBLE~!” Entrapta’s eyes lit up as she finished up her little speech.

The entire war room dumbstruck silent. Scorpia the first one to speak up.

“Crash Landed? Like…Hard impact in the dirt from SPACE crash landed? Big crater after, CRASH LANDED?” Scorpia motioned with her claws, making an almost bowl-like shape.

Adora held her head in her hands. Bow bit his knuckles and Micah looked totally lost.

“We don’t…need those codes anymore.” His voice cracked as he spoke, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Wait.” Adora spoke up, standing.

“King Micah, respectfully. I know Glimmer. She’s always been tougher than she looked, and I know she survived it. I just know it. Even if she didn’t, though I know she did…getting that info could win us the war. Glimmer would want us to get that data at any cost.”

“Adora’s right.” Bow steps up with her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“We need that data, and if we can rescue Glimmer too, then it’s worth a shot!”

Micah smiled to himself, standing up and standing tall.

“You two youngsters are right. If my little girl was able to hold down the fort while Daddy was on vacation at Beast Island, and fought her way through that flying abomination, able to steal and pilot a ship, then fly all the way back here. Like hell if she’d be anything less than capable of surviving that.”

Micah walked around the table as he spoke.

“We’re going to find my daughter, bring her home, and end this war.”

“YEAH!” Scorpia shouted, getting up.

“LET’S GO BRING HER HOME YOUR HIGHNESS!” She bursted with excitement.

“I’m coming too!” Entrapta spoke through Emily.

“I want to see that beauty in person!”

“The more the merrier!” King Micah boomed, lifting up his staff.

“Where to, Entrapta?”

“Hmm? Oh yes! I can’t believe I forgot to mention where…it’s…”

She went offscreen and under her desk, piles of paper and notes flying up as a big sheet of paper with readings all over it came into frame. She finally popped up like a gopher back into frame, holding the thing she was looking for.

“Here we are! According to my calculations, based on the trajectory they appear to have crash landed in…oh dear…”

She looked up from her notes with purpose, staring at the war room. Realizing that she was doomed to be the bearer of bad news yet again.

“In the Middle of the Crimson Wastes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Hello, this is the Writer speaking. This may be the end of "Flying The Coop", but this is not the end our story. More is to come, and soon!)


	21. A Very Special Chapter

Hello, this is the author speaking! This one isn't so much a chapter so much as it is an announcement and general appreciation.

First I'd like to say, I'm announcing the Sequel story to "Flying The Coop", which shall be titled 

"Rising Phoenix"

With the series as a whole being called 

"Hemo Invicta" 

The Link to the next story will be featured "[Here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23707366/chapters/56923858)". 

Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to go to discuss other matters. 

Firstly, I wanted to thank every single one of you whose read my little story, and everyone who has been a frequent commenter or added kudos. Every single one of you has encouraged me to keep writing, and I'm so happy that you all enjoy what I've written as much as you do.

When I started this story, I was honestly kind of depressed. College Grades and work plus the holidays had me in a bad mood. I had the idea for this story circling around in my head for a few months, and one day for whatever reason I decided to check AO3. I had never had an AO3 before, but I found this story that is sadly now deleted. I read through it, wasn't incredible but I thought it was pretty fun and creative enough. I read fanfiction back in the day for other fandoms and even tried writing some of my own. I loved to write but had been in a rut, yet there I was with so much time and too many ideas. Plus a bit of encouragement from just seeing what other people created inspired me to write my own fanfic with the oc in my head at the time, Tactus. 

But enough about me. Now I talk about the rest of you. I want to show you all the amazing things I've been sent by you wonderful creative types, as well as art that I've had commissioned for this story. 

Because every single time I saw the beautiful things you've all done because you loved this story so much, it made my heart swell and made me want to work that much harder to make the story better for each and every one of you.

First, let's start with the first piece of fanart I received from anyone on here. 

This one holds a special place in my heart. It was drawn by longtime commenter "[**TargaryenPug**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TargaryenPug/pseuds/TargaryenPug)", or as they're known on Tumblr "[**Hermajestythebomb**](https://hermajestythebomb.tumblr.com/)".

The style on this one I love cause it was one of the first attempts I saw to try to capture a closeness to the She-Ra style, and it reminds me a tad of the Owl from those old Winnie The Pooh cartoons. Which may have subconsciously influenced me while writing Tactus. Point is, I love it. I love the detail on the collar, and I love the addition of the v-neck in the shirt to give him a bit of fluff. It makes him seem so posh, and I love it. The pose, the one brow cocked up to give him an almost smugness or disconcerting appearance. As if he's saying in a british accent "Exactly wot do you think'ya doin' there guv?"

Second is a more realistic take. 

Made by longtime fan from Tumblr [**@1TiredCryptid**](https://1tiredcryptid.tumblr.com/) ! God, I remember that day. Seeing them mention they were going to make some fanart of Tactus and suddenly seeing all these little blips through the Tactus tag on my Tumblr (Which is **[@BluestYeehaw42](https://bluestyeehaw42.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr** btw) and being as giddy as a schoolgirl. Then I saw THIS appear. Just a perfectly detailed owl. As realistic as an owl could look, and the right type of Owl too! I know many of my readers mistook him for a barn owl, but the amount of detail on this is just incredible. Especially for a hand drawing! You could almost reach out and touch him!

I believe you may have seen this next one making the rounds on Tumblr not too long ago. Especially if you're a big fan of Glitra.

[**Azzyhop from Tumblr**](http://azzyhop.tumblr.com) made this! The colors, the shadings! You'd almost think it was a still straight from the show! I love the attention to detail of giving them the outfits I described back in "Cat's Couture", which off the top of my head I THINK was chapter 6? Which was back in I think January. So amazing memory! Loving the different interpretation of Tactus too! Plus the addition of adding in Glimmer's wings! Remembering Tactus is totally shirtless is also a plus! But seriously, THE COLORS. I love the way they did the feathers on Tactus, he looks so fluffy!

From Instagram [**@Webart34**](https://www.instagram.com/webart34/) and **[Webart34](https://webart34.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr**! IS

THE FIRST FANART OF PHOENIX!CATRA. A wonderful purple cat! Which sidenote and minor spoilers ahead! Watching the show "Kipo and The Age of the Wonderbeasts" made me very disappointed to see the main character turn into a purple cat. I had the idea in my head for Catra prior to watching that show, and it always discourages me to see other shows or media do the exact same idea or something similar to something I was planning for a story. 

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT. Can we talk about the way they made the fire? The amazing detail of her eyes still being normal just to make sure you know who she is? Oh but Webart34 didn't stop there!

HOO BOY. Ok, so I love everyone here. I DO. I love the outfits, I love Glimmer's frazzled expression, Tactus standing somewhat confidently but also a little miffed at Catra. The background being the right colors as I imagined. BUT CATRA IS STEALING THE SHOW. 

THE TEETH. THE SMUGNESS. THE BEEF. THE FLUFF. It's EXACTLY as I imagined her. To absolute perfection. She's here, she's queer, and she's ready to fucking murder the hell out of some clones. Also big PURPLE. Need I say more?

Now for the stuff the close friends I had from BEFORE I started writing here, were kind enough to help me get my vision just right.

This might be the OLDEST Tactus image on this entire page.Everything from the knee up was drawn by me, with some help from my girlfriend trying to get the legs just right. Tactus was always meant to break free, and eventually get the Major's visor. Plus his collar was always meant to break and kind of just become a circuit board on some wires. But one of the big things I was always going back and forth on was just to what degree Tactus was capable of fighting. With some of the earliest images actually depicting him wielding weapons or having a bandoleer of potions. I MIGHT bring back the bandoleer but I'm not sure yet. Speaking of. 

HOO BOY. And this one is DATED too, so you know how old it was and how long ago I was talking about this boy. This was drawn by my girlfriend who is 

[**@Clxwningaround**](https://clxwningaround.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr if you want to find her art. 

This was a screeching feral owl man with a slightly different visor. 

Also her! With some headshots of the boy back when we we're still going for a super ultra-realistic head. But we later went a little cartoony for it. 

Here's a rather fun one made from the many jokes about Tactus as a Butler.

We're going to get back to her art in a second, but now one for a close friend of many years. 

She goes by [**@deadasadoe**](https://deadasadoe.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, and she made the two following pieces.

A FREEDOM FIGHTING BOI Chucking his potion like a molotov at some poor unsuspecting fool.

And a concept design for Tactus, that's kind of a mix up due to this being a REALLY early design. He's looking much younger, but he's also got all his gear already, and a little uncharacteristically a sword. BUT HEY, he was still in the development process. 

STILL. It cannot be denied that this is some raw talent and a remarkably cute yet oddly fierce drawing. And to my best friend, when you eventually read this. Thank you dude, for all the times you listened to me ramble on about this owl boy. 

NOW FOR THE COMMISSIONED WORK. And IT IS A DOOZY.

Again, made by my girlfriend [**@Clxwningaround**](https://clxwningaround.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr! The cover art for this amazing story! So many details, such as the blood pie. Tactus' Home Star of Raptoris being in the constellation logo. Also, a tiny purple comet just behind Catra streaming towards her as foreshadowing about her inevitable fate! This image was STUPID LARGE. First real commission my GF ever did and this image is over 80 INCHES WIDE. 

That entire galaxy background is handmade. She has lovingly crafted this beautiful image and I was so disappointed with how Tumblr squeezed it, and legit nearly cried when I was trying to figure out how to add this art to the story so everyone could see it. In that same vein!

TACTUS. As he is as we've last left him. His collar is broken with his speaker on a tiny piece of circuit board, wearing the entire thing as a necklace on the wire that powers it. He's got the Major's Visor which he's changed the color to purple and put over his bad eye, and he's shirtless mixing up some potions looking absolutely feral. It's wonderful! I love the patterns in his feathers. It's just amazing. 

Now, if I didn't hammer it home enough how much I appreciate the work everyone has done, allow me to post some of the stuff I did, completely on my own. 

HERE IT IS. The first piece of Digital Art I made of Tactus. GOD IS IT WONDERFULLY UGLY. That's not meant to discredit myself as an artist, I just know Im a far better writer than I am an artist. Adora is almost entirely traced from different frames of the show, and Tactus was made using a ton of geometric shapes in my digital art program "Sketchbook" using a MOUSE. I did it for a meme image cause I imagined originally Tactus having an amazing relationship with Adora before I actually started WRITING this fic. Now I'm not even sure if they'd have much solidarity over anything but "Ey, Child Soldiers!" 

But the better known image of Tactus I posted was this. 

Which was my attempt to make Tactus' Horde Outfit as I saw it. Though now it occurs to me that blue being in the color scheme doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since Blue isn't a color that appears alot. An oversight I made due to Hordak's hair color. But ah well, designs a design. 

Also, despite Tactus' family not even being alive, I did happen to make some simple heads for them just so I can get an idea in my head for each. Just to compare them enough to Tactus that you can see the resemblance and go "Yeah they're probably family." 

First up is Decimus

The Bastard himself! Still got the purple colorings and birthmarks, but his head shape is clearly a little more menacing and different to show he's more hot headed. Based him more off a Eurasian Eagle-Owl then Tactus who is a Great Horned Owl. 

With Tactus' far better sister Talia

Being based more off a Barn Owl. A reminder, they're all half-siblings and only share a mom. Personally, I'm a big fan of Talia's design, so much so that I kinda regret putting so much effort into a character who was dead before the story even started! But ah well. 

AND FINALLY. THE MEME IMAGE.

Literally the first image I made with Tactus' wings. And the only one with the Major. I'm not too fond of the Major's legs, but I am very much down for the Major's entire top half. 

I know the story didn't QUITE turn out like this image, but hey? It's still fun to think about. 

WELP. That's just about everything! I wanted to thank you all again for sticking with me this far and for inspiring me as much as you have with the wonderful art I've seen. 

I hope you'll enjoy the next story even more! 


End file.
